David Jaindl’s team presented a detailed plan to East Allen Township Board of Supervisors Dec. 12 for relocating Seemsville Road to accommodate new warehousing operations.

The controversial development has a group of small warehouses located near Seemsville Road. Early on in the project, it was determined Seemsville Road would need to be relocated in order to accommodate the increased traffic and allow improved access to Route 329. The new Seemsville Road will be on property owned by Northampton Area School District but located in East Allen Township.

According to the existing understanding, all maintenance for Seemsville Road, old and new, would be handled by Allen Township. The proposed traffic light at the new Seemsville Road and Route 329 would be Allen Township’s responsibility.

The existing Seemsville Road serves as a border between the two townships. The border is at the centerline of the existing road. The border would not change, but responsibility for street maintenance reverts to Allen Township. At one point, Allen Township suggested moving the border to new Seemsville Road, but that proposal was rejected. East Allen Township has no revenue producing units along the existing Seemsville Road. All the residential properties are in Allen Township. The property in East Allen Township along the existing Seemsville Road belongs to the school district, which pays no taxes.

In general, the plan includes closing the existing Seemsville Road’s intersection at Route 329, creating a cul-de-sac at the end of the road, building a connector road to the new Seemsville Road and adding stormwater retention basins.

How the roadway is constructed remains under East Allen’s jurisdiction. Jaindl asked East Allen for certain waivers to allow the project to succeed. Initially, Jaindl asked for a waiver from East Allen’s requirement for a 25-foot easement along old Seemsville Road. The existing easement is 16 feet. Supervisor Mark Schwartz argued to retain the 25-foot requirement for potential future improvements that would most likely include utility improvements. Jaindl recalled its waiver request.

Jaindl asked for waivers on the construction of the stormwater basins. East Allen’s existing standards do not comply with revised Department of Environmental Protection standards, and Jaindl asked for a waiver to comply with the standards. No one had an objection to this request.

The last series of waivers concerned the construction of the cul-de-sac at the end of Seemsville Road. According to Schwartz, the area floods during heavy storms and the flow of water is away from the proposed stormwater basin. Schwartz requested that curbing be installed around the cul-de-sac to direct the water to an outlet. Engineer Anne Marie Vigilante emphasized stormwater detention was handled further up in the development and stormwater flows would be significantly reduced by the time they reached the cul-de-sac. Jaindl further emphasized curbing might create a pond in the cul-de-sac by not letting the water infiltrate the ground. Vigilante agreed to put curbing around the cul-de-sac and asked the board to review the option further. Jaindl will provide topographical information to the board in January 2019. The board is expected to vote on the waivers in February 2019.

Chairman Roger Unangst expressed his frustration with this project. His objection is Allen Township receives all the revenue from the project and East Allen and its residents get all the additional traffic. Traffic counts are high. Seemsville Road is estimated to carry 2,535 cars and 1,560 trucks each day. The warehouse traffic is 197 cars in the morning along with 74 trucks. The evening load is 204 cars and 97 trucks. The traffic count is not significant enough to trigger traffic controls further north on Seemsville Road. East Allen was looking for traffic signals rather than stop signs at the connector road.

When the project started, Unangst asked truck traffic be directed down Howertown Road to Savage Road and onto Willowbrook Road. There is a long-standing agreement with Miller Supply Ace Hardware to extend Savage Road to meet Howertown Road, which would eliminate some of the twists and turns. There is a bridge on Howertown Road that would require an upgrade, along with the bridge at Willowbrook and Bullshead roads.

Allen Township objected to the route because the bridges could not be completed on time. But the overriding reason is the township has two parks on Savage Road, a newer residential area at Savage and Willowbrook roads and Catasauqua High School at Willowbrook and Bullshead roads. The Seemsville Road relocation over vacant NASD property seemed a viable solution to Allen Township supervisors.

In its review of the plans, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation chose to route traffic along new Seemsville Road over the Howertown Road alternative. There were relevant topographical technicalities that were added to the mix. These were explained by Eugene Clater, chairman of Allen Township Planning Commission, at prior meetings but allegedly were not often conveyed to East Allen Township. Unangst agreed to get an intermunicipal agreement in place.

The bridges on Howertown Road and at Willowbrook and Bullshead roads are being upgraded under county programs. Allen Township did renew an agreement with Miller Supply Ace Hardware to extend Savage Road with no defined time frame.