The Hanover Township Council looked at a traffic report it commissioned at its March 19 meeting.

FedEx had prepared a traffic impact study for the area around a proposed warehouse complex in Allen Township, but it did not include any assessment of the traffic on Route 22. At its last meeting, council asked the township Engineer Frederick Hay to look at traffic on Route 22. The results were outside of expectations.

"Based on our study, the level of service would remain the same," Hay said.

The level of service on the roadway is presently designated as D, which indicates delays and difficulty in changing lanes.

The main criteria affecting the level of service is traffic density. The study showed that the density would not be significantly increased.

"If traffic is already at a standstill, I guess it doesn't make any difference if you add more vehicles," said Councilman Curtis Wegfahrt.

Hay did note the study used information from the 763-page Pidcock study, but data from PennDOT was difficult to obtain.

"Peak hours in the Pidcock study and the peak hours on Route 22 did not coincide," Hay said.

The local study took PennDOT information and interpolated data for 2013-2015.

An important statistic, that of ramp density, was not available from Penn DOT and the local study used information in the Pidcock analysis.

When asked if a more detailed study would produce different results, Hay said a larger study is beyond the scope of what could be done locally.

"We would need PennDOT to coordinate a larger study," he said.

Mickey Philpott, an Allen Township resident opposed to the FedEx hub, reported the township is reviewing traffic along Route 329.

According to Robert Napa, also of Allen Township, anticipated costs to improve intersections along Route 329 doubled from previous estimates.

"They expect box trucks to go north, but not the semis," Napa said.

According to Napa, the scope of the project is expanded.

"The million-square-foot warehouse is for FedEx, but the other two warehouses belong to the Rockefeller group," he said.

His comments were made to show the projected growth of warehousing in the area of the hub.

There appears to be a growing concern among those opposed to the hub that the project is going to move forward.

"This is something that will fundamentally change the quality of life in the area," Napa said.

No one knows what happens if surrounding municipalities reject conditions presented or even if they can reject roadway expansions.

At the last Hanover council meeting, township Manager Sandra Pudliner indicated East Allen Township might convene a meeting with other municipalities. Pudliner contacted East Allen Township.

"The East Allen board said they won't get involved. Their roads are not affected and they are not going to have any meetings," she said.

Also at the meeting, the council agreed to send representatives to the May 2 Pennsylvania State Police function celebrating the founding of the organization.

"They asked us to participate instead of [having] a separate function," Pudliner said. "It isn't exactly what we wanted to do to thank them for all they do, but I can understand their safety concerns," said Chairman Bruce Paulus.