Hanover Township called a special meeting Monday evening to gather opinions on the proposed FedEx Ground hub in Allen Township.

International shipping giant FedEx proposed a million-square-foot warehouse on land owned by Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allen Township.

The Rockefeller Group will develop the FedEx project. In late August, Allen Township recommended that the project move forward. The project received approvals from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and PennDOT. Hanover, which will see most of the traffic from the project, contended at recent council meetings that the project traffic study is flawed and does not take into account anticipated problems with already jammed traffic on Route 22 and potential backups onto local roads.

The purpose of the Monday night meeting was to solicit input from businesses and residents on problems they foresee.

Solicitor Jackson Eaton presented a summary of the actions taken by the township in an effort to gather information on how the project will affect quality of life in Hanover.

Hanover Township has a strong reputation for supporting business growth and Councilman Bob Heimbecker emphasized that point during his presentation.

Business owners voiced concerns about reduced access to their businesses, emphasizing fears about construction upheaval. Brosky Insurance weathered the last, often delayed, revamp of the intersection at Willowbrook Road and Race Street.

With an anticipated opening of the FedEx warehouse in 2015, many questioned the ability to get road improvements done considering the delays the township has seen in the past with PennDOT controlled projects.

Business owners supported increasing the number of jobs the facility would bring. Robert Napa, an Allen Township resident opposed to the project, put a damper on the jobs projections.

"There will be some full-time jobs, but most will be part-time paying at the most $10.23 an hour," he said. "Most of the jobs will be moved here from another location."

Traffic is still the top concern for residents and some business owners. The traffic study prepared by the Pidcock Company at the request of the Rockefeller Group, shows 14,000 vehicles added to the existing traffic flow. The traffic study did not include Route 22 traffic. There is concern that the traffic study did not include Route 22 because including it would sink the project.

Existing plans for expansion will accommodate the new traffic load. According to previous presentations and information from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, funding for expanding Route 22 is available and plans for expansion will coincide with the full build out of the development.

FedEx has an option on about half of the nearly 500 acres owned by the airport. The remaining acreage is zoned industrial.

Charles Everett, executive director of LVIA, expressed support for the project. The airport is under a court ruling to make payments for an ill-advised land strategy it undertook prior to Everett's tenure.

A local fear is that the airport will expand to accommodate FedEx air shipments, creating an even larger problem for some.

"We do not anticipate that the airport will grow in the near future," said Everett in response to questions. There are published plans showing a second runway at LVIA, although the plans have not been approved or proposed.

The purpose of the meeting, as council Chairman Bruce Paulus emphasized, was not to badger, but to voice legitimate concerns.

Residents who voiced an opinion were concerned about access to roads for themselves and for emergency vehicles. Grove Road will be isolated during heavy traffic, forcing cars to Schoenersville Road.

Present plans call for Willowbrook Road to expand to four lanes, Race Street to five lanes and Airport Road to add a single lane south bound. Several people questioned the logic of adding a southbound lane and no north bound lane on Airport Road. The trucks need to come back to the facility, some reason.

Hanover Township has limited control over Race Street and Airport Road. Both are state roadways. Willowbrook Road is a township road and proposed changes would need approval from the township. Costs for the expanded roadways would be born by the developer, but maintenance costs are an open issue.

According to Paulus, the township expects heavy wear and tear on Willowbrook Road.

Clark Machmer, regional director for the Rockefeller Group, addressed the audience and expressed his willingness to work with Hanover Township and address their concerns. He emphasized there were some misconceptions about the traffic volume.

"The projections in the traffic study are for a full build out [500 plus acres] of the site. The first phase which Allen Township approved will add about 350 vehicles," he said. FedEx has an existing facility off Route 512 that puts transit vans on the highway now.

"The proposed roadway expansions will increase capacity by 50 percent, but the traffic will increase 40 percent at full build out," Machmer said.

As Machmer explained after the meeting, FedEx has detailed traffic monitoring systems that can route traffic around problems.

Meghan Young, manager at Staybridge Suites, offered support to the project.

"We run shuttle service at all hours. We survived Musikfest. I think we can handle the traffic," she said.

Councilman Curtis Wegfahrt commented after the meeting that the data seems to change often.

"There should be a constant number that we can use. It seems that the data is always changing," he said.

Council anticipates more meetings with the developer and more input from the community once plans are submitted for review to the township.