Hanover Township Solicitor Jackson Eaton reported to township council April 16 that he requested information from PennDOT about traffic volume data on Route 22 under the Freedom of Information Act.

"Our request was denied," said Eaton.

The traffic data request is part of the township's continuing attempt to assess the impact of potential additional traffic in the township generated by the proposed FedEx hub in neighboring Allen Township.

FedEx has proposed to develop a set of large warehouses on property owned by the Lehigh Valley International Airport. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission has reviewed the overall plan, which included a 760-page traffic study, and given the plan its conditional approval.

The FedEx proposal is making its way through the planning process in Allen Township. Allen Township has scheduled two three-hour planning sessions on April 28 and 30. There is a vocal group opposing the plan. Hanover Township will be affected by the traffic generated by the proposed hub and is evaluating the traffic impact on the township.

Hanover Township, at its own expense, conducted a study of traffic on Route 22 in March. The results of the study showed that although Route 22's already notorious traffic problems would be increased, the increase would not change the roadway's classification.

Route 22 is rated by PennDOT as a level D roadway now and would continue as a D level highway with the FedEx traffic figures supplied as part of the planning process. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission did not address Route 22 traffic in its evaluation of the project.

The significant piece of data missing from Hanover Township's traffic study was traffic volume on ramps leading to Route 22. Ramp traffic is congested during certain hours under present conditions. Council is concerned that traffic conditions get so bad that the township is gridlocked. Eaton requested ramp traffic data from the state so that local engineers could look at access to Route 22 in realistic terms. The state responded with an odd objection in its denial.

"They {PennDOT} said that accident data would not be made available," said Eaton. "We were clear in our request of what we wanted."

Eaton asked council to approve filing an appeal of PennDOT's decision. Council unanimously approved the measure.

"The only way this proposal [FedEx hub] can be stopped is if it's a safety issue," said Council Bob Heimbecker. "And now we are told that we can't get data to make an informed judgment. The process is proceeding and the principals are uninformed about unusual conditions. At best that is an untenable situation."

According to Heimbecker, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission assured him that all requested data would be made available to municipalities impacted by the hub.