ALLENTOWN, Pa. – What projects will be top of mind for Lehigh Valley planners four years from now?<\/p>\n
There’s an easy way to get a sneak peek, no crystal ball required.<\/p>\n
The public comment period is officially open for the draft plan of the 2027-2030 Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP.<\/p>\n
What’s a TIP?<\/p>\n
The TIP is the federally mandated, four-year rolling financial plan developed for Lehigh and Northampton counties by the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study (LVTS), the\u00a0Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC).<\/p>\n
In other words, it’s a list of the region’s high priority transportation projects- everything from bridge repairs to road resurfacing- that will be using federal funding in the years ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Federal guidelines mandate that the TIP should cover a period of at least three years; consist of projects from FutureLV, the LVPC’s roadmap for local development, land use, housing and transportation; and include realistic cost and revenue estimates for all of the projects.<\/p>\n
While the TIP can include significant regional projects that aren’t federally funded, any project seeking federal funding needs to be included.<\/p>\n
The TIP is updated every two years, and each plan overlaps with the one that will follow it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What’s the price tag?<\/p>\n
The TIP for the Lehigh Valley is funded with federal, state and local money, with the vast majority (about 80%) coming in as federal dollars from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).<\/p>\n
The 2027-2030 TIP comes with a $545 million price tag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of that, the vast majority- about $525.5 million- is based on an allocation set by PennDOT and USDOT based on factors like population, vehicle miles traveled, and overall need.<\/p>\n
The rest- about $19 million- comes from grants and other state and federal funding.<\/p>\n
What’s in the plan?<\/p>\n
The plan outlines how the money will be spent across eight categories, including road projects, rail, transit, and bridge projects.<\/p>\n
Of those categories, bridge projects were given the highest allotment, at more than $234 million. Transit was next on the list at $193 million, followed by roadway expansion ($35.2 million), road reconstruction \/ modernization \/ automation ($29.3 million) and general road projects ($23.9 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The outline also points out two “mega projects” that carry over multiple TIP cycles.<\/p>\n
One of them is the $79 million overhaul of the Route 309 \/ Center Valley Parkway interchange in Upper Saucon Township. Plans calls for eliminating the setup of the current intersection and building a new bridge to carry Route 309 over the parkway. According to PennDOT, the project is still in the design phase, with completion expected in 2030.<\/p>\n
The other “mega project”: rehab of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge (Route 378) in Bethlehem, a $72 million effort. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and last several years.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the other bigger projects:<\/p>\n
– Route 22 \/ Fullerton interchange improvements in Whitehall Township ($14 million)<\/p>\n
– Routes 22 \/ 191 interchange improvements in Bethlehem Township ($18 million)<\/p>\n
– Lehigh Street improvements in Emmaus and Allentown ($12 million)<\/p>\n
– Route 33 resurfacing in Bethlehem and Lower Saucon townships ($8 million)<\/p>\n
What happens next?<\/p>\n
The TIP can be viewed in its entirety on LVPC’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are also hard copies available at locations like the public libraries in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.\u00a0<\/p>\n Public comments are being accepted through May 16.<\/p>\n