I don\u2019t know if state Rep. Eric Weaknecht is a fisherman, but he sure opened a can of worms by inviting a public conversation on Route 183.<\/p>\n
Weaknecht hosted a forum Tuesday evening at Reading Regional Airport to \u201cbring those responsible for transportation and public safety together in one room so we can have an open conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a daily user of Route 183, I had a good idea of what I was walking into for this assignment. If there\u2019s one thing Berks Countians never tire of discussing, it\u2019s our roads \u2014 and how people drive on them.<\/p>\n
Surely, I thought, the forum would zero in on the hourglass section just north of Penn State St. Joseph Medical Center and the Route 222 interchange in Bern Township, the corridor\u2019s most notorious choke point. But when I saw the long row of nameplates stretching across the gate\u2011seating area, I knew the meeting had the potential to become disjointed \u2014 a little like when comedian\u2011musician Crazy Elmer used to burst onto the stage during country shows at fire company carnivals.<\/p>\n
The structure saved it. Attendees wrote questions on cards at the sign\u2011in table, covering anything related to Route 183. Weaknecht\u2019s staff grouped them by topic to avoid redundancy. After brief remarks from Weaknecht, the panelists took turns.<\/p>\n
County transportation planner Alan Piper told the audience that a 2022 citizen\u2011organized forum at Penn\u2011Bernville School prompted studies of problem areas and, eventually, a slate of projects. Preliminary engineering and design phases are programmed in the county\u2019s current four\u2011year transportation improvement plan, which runs through 2030. Construction, for the most part, awaits the next plan.<\/p>\n
Anticipating pushback, Piper conceded the pace is maddening.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe process is something that we regret almost as much as you folks do \u2014 the amount of time it takes to work your way through it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Bernville Mayor Wayne Lesher said he was stunned by how slowly government moves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was started in 2022, and we\u2019re just getting to see a little results of some of the studies now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lesher hears constant complaints about Route 183, especially the S\u2011curve just south of the borough, where fast\u2011moving traffic makes crossing perilous.<\/p>\n
One PennDOT project will widen Route 183 in the Bernville area to add a center-turn lane. The same project will install a traffic light and turn lanes at Shartlesville Road by Penn\u2011Bernville School.<\/p>\n
Residents also described trucks and cars whipping past them on the narrow shoulder in the Mount Pleasant area as they waited to turn onto Old Church or North Heidelberg roads. Some called for concrete median dividers to curb dangerous passing, which they say has worsened with the growth of warehouses along Interstate 78.<\/p>\n
But the major projects outlined by PennDOT consultant Michael McGuire would do little to address the concern raised most often: speeding and aggressive driving.<\/p>\n
Weaknecht wisely included Bern Township police and state police representatives, who said they know the issues well and do what they can with limited manpower.<\/p>\n
The meeting stayed orderly, but frustration surfaced as residents confronted the limits of government \u2014 and of driver behavior. One woman finally offered the simplest short\u2011term fix: leave for work 15 minutes earlier and stop speeding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I don\u2019t know if state Rep. Eric Weaknecht is a fisherman, but he sure opened a can of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,139,1559,1560,28,128,130,129,706,2155],"class_list":["post-293893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-news","tag-opinion","tag-opinion-columnists","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}