A Cementon resident wants to know if the Wood Street Playground in Fullerton will be in peril when construction and widening of Route 22 occurs in a few years.

Donald Drabic of Cementon questioned the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners at the Aug. 11 meeting.

Drabic said he is concerned the playground will be removed by PennDOT when major road improvements are undertaken.

The township earlier approved the sale of a small sliver of the Wood Street Playground, the north side of Route 22, to PennDOT. When the commissioners and administration consented to PennDOT's request, they were instructed declining to do so would result in PennDOT resorting to eminent domain proceedings.

Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said the playground will not be affected. The basketball courts and children's playground equipment installed several years ago will remain intact.

Only a change to the electrical box is scheduled for the playground, sandwiched in between Third Street and Route 22, Hozza said. The box will be moved elsewhere on the tract.

Nonetheless, Drabic said he was wary of PennDOT.

Hozza said the projected work on Route 22 cannot be compared to the 1950s when the Fullerton Playground was subjected to new highway construction.

The playground moved to grounds next to the Whitehall Mall, becoming the Jefferson Street Park & Playground.

The highway also sliced through sections of Fullerton.