The long languishing Riverside Drive project has been given a new lease on life in eastern Salisbury Township.

The township board of commissioners voted unanimously 5-0 to approve an extension letter for the St. Luke's University Health Network Preliminary-Final Subdivision Plan for the Riverside Drive access road.

"The project is still alive," Atty. Steven T. Boell of Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba P.C., the law firm representing St. Luke's, told commissioners prior to the May 9 commissioners' vote.

St. Luke's has been negotiating with Norfolk-Southern Railroad to relocate a freight track on Riverside Drive south of the Lehigh River and north of Lehigh Mountain near the Fountain Hill borough line.

David J. Tettemer, Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., township consulting engineer, is engineer for the St. Luke's project. He has recused himself from township deliberations relating to the project.

However, at the May 9 meeting, he did say of it, "The project is status quo," then added, "The issues are not engineering-related."

"The railroad is incredibly difficult to work with," Boell added.

The vote grants the St. Luke's project an extension until June 18, 2014. Township commissioners last year also provided an extension, which was to expire next month.

The approximate $15-million Riverside Drive relocation is to provide an alternative access for emergency vehicles to St. Luke's, a regional trauma facility in Fountain Hill. The borough's Delaware Avenue, which now is the only access to St. Luke's, is often congested.

A bicycle, walking and jogging path along the south side of Riverside Drive would augment access to Walking Purchase Park, a 500-acre park earmarked for improvements, and the Lehigh County Detox Center. The park is owned and administered by the township, Allentown and Lehigh County. Valley Mountain Bikers have developed a bicycle trail there.

The road would be accessed from the east at Union Station on Bethlehem's south side. Brighton Street in Fountain Hill would be extended north to Riverside.

The Riverside Drive project has been under discussion since 2009.

In other business at the May 9 township meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the Allentown Dog Training Club request to hold classes at Franko Farm Park. No problems with the program have been reported to township officials.

The May 23 township meeting, the second monthly meeting, was canceled for lack of business, Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano announced in an email to the media and on the township website.