В· Five-Lane Widening Alternative with Route 41 to Route 772 Option,> which would add one travel lane in each direction to the existing road.>

This alternative also includes the separate construction of a direct> link between Routes 41 and 772 at Gap. This would eliminate the short> stretch that motorists must travel on Route 30 between those two roads.>

The five-lane alternative would affect the most businesses and homes> along the road and requires the most displacements. Some of those> businesses would be harmed by additional traffic, the project engineers> acknowledge.>

This alternative has been opposed by local officials and Citizens> Advisory Committee members.

Yet this alternative does not require PennDOT to acquire large tracts> of land for right-of-way. It is favored by farmers because it does not> cut through fields and some businesses would be helped by the> additional traffic.>

Lapano said a rough construction figure for the five-lane alternative> is $100 million.

В· Southern Relocation Alternative, which is the most extensive and> most expensive option being considered.>

It involves construction of a new four-lane, limited access road south> of the existing Route 30 from Cherry Road, near Ronks, east to the> Chester County line. From Route 896 to Cherry Road, existing Route 30> would be widened to five lanes. This alternative bypasses the village> of Gap.>

This alternative impacts farmland more than the five-lane widening> option.>

While no businesses and residences would be disrupted or displaced by> the construction of this road, it would harm some businesses which> would lose the "pass-by" traffic.>

Lapano said a rough construction figure for this alternative is $300> million.>

The state has been conducting the federally required Environmental> Impact Statement study of Route 30 East since early 2002, newspaper> records show.>

But the road has been on and off the drawing table since at least the> 1980s, when a bypass was considered. The study was revived in 1993 and> shelved again in 1996.

Because of the great amount of adjacent development that is close enough> to US-30 to be directly impacted with right-of-way impacts by this> alternative?

The five-lane alternative with full shoulders would be a lot wider than> the existing 3-lane highway, basically five 12-foot lanes and two> 10-foot paved shoulders, compared to three existing lanes that are each> 10 to 10.5 feet wide; or 80 feet of paved width compared to 30 to 40> feet of paved width depending on the section.>

At the minimum, IMO, the five-lane alternative should be built, and> should extend to the US-30 Lancaster Bypass and to the US-30> Downingtown-Coatesv­ille Bypass, providing seamless 4-lane highway> travel.>

A US-30 expressway bypass of this section of US-30, was studied during> the 1970s also, and at least officially discussed in the 1960s.>

$300 million for 20 miles of rural freeway is a reasonable cost. To do> this correctly, the new section of freeway should seamlessly integrate> with the US-30 Lancaster Bypass and the US-30 Downingtown-Coatesv­ille> Bypass, providing a seamless US-30 freeway.

Completion of this freeway link would also complete an alternate 4-lane> freeway route between I-283 at Harrisburg and I-76 at King of Prussia,> comprising sections of the PA-283, US-30 and US-202 freeways. It would> relieve the need to widen to 6 lanes the section of the PA Turnpike> between Harrisburg and Valley Forge.

This new freeway section would pass through Pennsylvania Dutch Country,> and Lancaster County has a high density of rural population in many> parts of the county, so this may engender some opposition to this> proposed freeway section.

-- > Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites> Virginia/Maryland/W­ashington, D.C. http://www.roadstot­hefuture.com> Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways­.com

"Scott M. Kozel" <kozelsm@comcast.ne­t> wrote:>

Would there be any other reason?> Example of US 30 between Lancaster and Paradise -> http://www.roadfan.­com/lhpa02/2turnlane­s.JPG

I wish they would attach the bypass to the east end of the Lancaster By-pass.> That mess between 462 and 896 is just as bad as the slow motion traffic> between Saudersburg (Pa 896) and Gap

The further east you go from Lancaster (towards Philly), the more you can> "skimp" on improvements to US 30 before you reach the> Downingtown-Coatesv­ille Bypass.

However, PennDOT is stuck between a rock and a hard place with the US 30> business interests and the local farmers at loggerheads as to how US 30> should be improved through there. ­

For who? For what?> A straight line will get you there quicker, and who is to say that the> Turnpike Commission might be against the plan because it could take revenue> away?

Isn't high density of rural population an oxymoron?

Hopefully the new highway would be 4-lane freeway throughout.>

Scott M. Kozel wrote:>

Exactly.>

The idea of sticking a five-lane section between two freeways is> absurd. One would think that PADOT would have learned *something*> after incorporating Arsenal Road in the US-30 York bypass.

Scott M. Kozel wrote:> > "Magyar" <sgulya1@lsu.edu> wrote:> >

Exactly.>

The idea of sticking a five-lane section between two freeways is> absurd. One would think that PADOT would have learned *something*> after incorporating Arsenal Road in the US-30 York bypass.>

Guy Olsen, PE (NJ)>

<GuyPOlsen@AOL.com>­ wrote:>

Apparently PADOT did NOT learn anything. Arsenal Road is a pice of> totally dysfunctional city street.

Route 30 east of Lancaster has been in> need of total replacement for the past 40 years.

Arsenal Road and Loucks Road is surface divided highway that comprises a> US-30 northern bypass of York, and it seamlessly extends to the east as> the US-30 freeway to the city of Lancaster. The end of the US-30> freeway is about 1/2 mile from I-83, and a direct interchange could be> built to provide a freeway-grade connection between the US-30 freeway> and I-83.>

I first visited PA Dutch Country in 1973, and drove that section of> US-30 then, and it did need total replacement then.>

--> Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites> Virginia/Maryland/W­ashington, D.C. http://www.roadstot­hefuture.com> Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways­.com

"Scott M. Kozel" <kozelsm@comcast.ne­t> wrote:>

I know the road quite well and it is a nightmare. That is why we bypass> it ourselves.>

You should have seen the total mess when the Lincoln Highway went through> downtown Lancaster.

Scott Kozel wrote:>

I wonder how they might put a direct freeway-grade connection between the> US30 freeway and I-83?

Scott, the only problem with that is that especially thru Paradise and> Kinzers, the houses butt right up against US-30, requiring them to> either be moved back or demolished as seen here:> http://terraserver.­homeadvisor.msn.com/­image.aspx?T=1&S=10&­Z=18&X=2024&Y=22144&­W=1&qs=%7cgap%7c> . Either way that will be very expensive.

I drive this stretch almost daily, and the biggest problem I see is> that most of the traffic seems to be coming & going from Harrisburg> down PA 283 to US-30 down to PA 41. Almost all the time I see more> semi's on the road then I do cars.

IMO, perhaps PennDOT could build the Southern Relocation Alternative as> a "Super 2", this could be similar to the US-202 project near> Doylestown. This would reduce the right-of-way required, and thus the> cost. Later on if the traffic studies warrent it, it could be widened> to a 4 lane freeway. The idea being to get the thru traffic onto the> bypass but still have plenty off access to the "main" US-30 for the> businesses along the way. This would definately help things out on> this stretch.

Scott M. Kozel wrote:> > "IREUL476@gmail.com­" <IREUL476@gmail.com­> wrote:> >

How did you determine the origins and destinations of the traffic?

PA Dutch Country seems to generate lots of local traffic with the

Scott M. Kozel wrote:> > IREUL476@gmail.com wrote:> >

There's a related study being undertaken by Wilbur Smith called the> "Wilmington - Harrisburg Freight Study". Their study area generally> follows PA 283/US 30/PA 41, which would back up his observation about> the heavy trucks along US 30 west of PA 41 (I've seen it myself in> crossing the road on various trips).

I found the study area map> somewhere on the PennDOT website before I left...don't remember where.