Businesses: 443 project will hurt

The proposed Route 443 roadway improvement project could have a crippling effect on various properties and businesses located along the strip.

Several business owners attended Monday’s Lehighton Borough Council meeting to voice their objection to the proposed road widening project in Mahoning Township.

Among those in attendance were Bill Klepeiss, general manager, Lehighton Ford; Chris Nelson, owner, Beacon 443 Restaurant; Bill Harleman and Debbie Ahner, owners, Boulevard Drive-In Restaurant; Fred and Donna Kemfort, managers, Boulevard Drive-In Restaurant; Barbara Zehner, tenant, Route 443 Flowers; Barry Haupt, property owner, Route 443; and Dennis Krell, property manager/environmental compliance manager representing Pipeline Petroleum Property.

Impact on businesses

Klepeiss said many of the businesses have been located on the strip for the past 50, 60 years, and that the project’s impact will be significant and will likely cause the businesses to close or relocate, which also affects the borough.

“We’re concerned about the future of our businesses,” Klepeiss said. “As a group, we rallied together to see what we could do; we’re not opposed to fixing the road, we know the road needs to be fixed.”

However, Klepeiss said each of the businesses will be severely impacted by the project, adding it “will probably put a lot of people out of business.”

“We’re here to see what we can do,” he said. “But, we’re not going to give up the fight.”

Klepeiss said the coalition can’t understand the sense behind “destroying the businesses that were the backbone” of the community for so many years.

He said the coalition has contacted the office of the state representative and state senator, but that the absence of any elected official support fighting to support the businesses is disappointing.

Klepeiss said traffic congestion issues don’t exist, and that there’s no significant changes in the crash data to support the need for the project.

He then questioned how they can impose these restrictions on their businesses.

Further, Klepeiss said the coalition doesn’t believe there’s a need for a proposed third lane down by the section where the businesses are located.

He said the group’s next step is to go to Gov. Tom Wolf’s office “to try to help us protect our businesses.”

Klepeiss said that as a business owner, he has a responsibility to his employees to keep them employed.

“We’re just hurting good business people,” he said. “It’s going to cripple the businesses.”

Klepeiss said the coalition is seeking ways to mitigate and minimize the impact to the businesses.

Borough manager Nicole Beckett noted that the roadway improvement project is PennDOT’s project, and that borough council is in the middle of it.

Beckett then asked council if there was any way they can support the businesses.

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky said she believes it’s their responsibility to do just that.

“I personally think we have to support our businesses; they’re the backbone of our community,” Abelovsky said. “We need to give these people our full support.”

Councilman Ryan Saunders said he believes council needs to have a meeting with state Rep. Doyle Heffley and state Sen. John Yudichak. Other council members agreed.

PennDOT files eminent domain

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation previously filed an eminent domain declaration of taking action against Bennett Family Properties LLC, and Joseph Bennett, 619 Iron St., Lehighton.

A major component of the Route 443 Safety Improvement Project is improving roadway drainage to address flooding concerns by the local residents and motorists.

Bennett’s property, or a portion of it, is required for the transportation improvement, and they have offered him $407,000 after the Declaration of Taking is filed.

PennDOT is required to provide stormwater management facilities to comply with regulatory agencies as part of the improvements in the Route 443 corridor.

Due to the linear nature of the project, stormwater management facilities need to be placed in a location to maximize the amount of stormwater that can be captured and situated near a point of discharge.

Road widening project

Ron Young, PennDOT spokesman, provided an update on the project, in September.

Young said the project to improve Route 443 in Lehighton Borough and Mahoning Township is still in the design phase, and that the department estimates a construction contract may go out for bids in February or March of 2020.

Young said the project includes roadway improvements on Route 443/Blakeslee Boulevard Drive East from Ashtown Road to the Route 209/Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge, including widening to accommodate a three-lane section through a majority of the project to accommodate a two-way center turn lane for safety and mobility of traffic through the corridor.

He said the project also includes the realignment and replacement of the Route 902 bridge over Mahoning Creek, and also calls for replacing traffic signals with new ones.

Young said the estimated construction cost is in the $26 million to $28 million range, and that the anticipated construction is expected to take between 1.5 to 3 years.

He said that section of 443 has an average daily traffic volume of 16,893 vehicles.