The proposed relocation of Riverside Drive in eastern Salisbury Township, Fountain Hill and Bethlehem has apparently become the road to nowhere.

Relocation of the road, which roughly parallels the Norfolk Southern Railway railroad track on the south side of the Lehigh River and north of Lehigh Mountain, was proposed by St. Luke's University Hospital to provide an alternative access to the hospital.

Brighton Street was to be extended north to Riverside Drive to provide access to the St. Luke's Fountain Hill campus.

After approximately five years of negotiations with Norfolk Southern, St. Luke's has apparently abandoned the project, which was to have cost between $8 million to $15 million.

The Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to accept the withdrawal of the Preliminary-Final Plan for the St. Luke's Riverside Road Project.

The letter for the request for withdrawal was received from Atty. Erich J. Schock, Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, Center Valley, representing St. Luke's.

"I'm not sure if St. Luke's has abandoned that route," Salisbury Township Manager Randy J. Soriano said.

David J. Tettemer, Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer who has excused himself during previous township deliberations about the Riverside Road Project because he was consulting St. Luke's as engineer for the project, offered additional information when asked by Soriano at the Sept. 26 township meeting.

"Five years ago, St. Luke's began its plan for improvements to connect as a back door to their facility," Tettemer said.

Officials of St. Luke's, which is classified as a major regional trauma center, wanted an alternative route to the hospital because of frequent traffic congestion at the southern terminus of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge and along Delaware Avenue. St. Luke's, 801 Ostrum St., is located off Delaware Avenue in Fountain Hill.

"The problem was they [St. Luke's and Norfolk Southern] had to relocate the railroad and road [Riverside Drive]."

The plan was for Norfolk Southern to move the railroad track. Riverside Drive was to then be reconstructed on the site of the railroad track.

"Norfolk Southern pretty much said 'no" and that killed the project," Tettemer said.

"They spent two and one-half years negotiating," Tettemer continued.

"It would've been a nice project," added Tettemer. "But you can't mess with Norfolk Southern."

The relocated Riverside Drive was to have included the addition of a bicycle, running and walking path alongside it. The hope was it to connect the South Bethlehem Greenway and Walking Purchase Park.

The road improvement was seen as providing better access to the Lehigh County minimum security prison and drug and alcohol treatment center, located off Riverside Drive in Salisbury.

It was hoped the Riverside Drive project would improve access to the 500-acre Walking Purchase Park in Salisbury, which is jointly administered by the township, City of Allentown and Lehigh County.

St. Luke's was granted several extensions for the Riverside Drive Project plan, which was presented to the township Planning Commission, which had voted to recommend approval of the plan following several meetings.

The Fountain Hill Planning Commission and Bethlehem Planning Commission had also recommended approval of the plan.

Riverside Drive is accessible from the east, off South Third Street, Bethlehem, and to the west, off Constitution Drive, Allentown.

St. Luke's was negotiating with Reeb Mill Works Corp., 600 Brighton St., for purchase of land to accommodate the project.

In a Dec. 11, 2009, City of Bethlehem Department of Community and Economic Development memo, it was stated of the Riverside Drive project:

"The proposed project provides significant public benefit for both emergency services and also routine traffic flow.

"It is obviously a very complicated project requiring approvals from several parties, including private land owners, Norfolk Southern and a few municipalities."

The Bethlehem Planning Commission voted unanimously at its Dec. 10, 2009, meeting to recommend that [Bethlehem] City Council accept the eventual dedication of Riverside Drive.