Montco Pitching 3 Major Transportation Projects

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —Montgomery County is proposing that the state add three big transportation projects to its road improvements program, Horsham Township Council was told by county officials at its recent meeting.

Matt Edmond of the Montgomery Council Planning Commission provided the council with an update at the Nov. 27 council meeting. He also discussed the status of the Eastern Montco Interchanges Group.

Edmond stated that the planning commission is trying to have three projects added to the state’s Transportation Improvement Program: the Willow Grove Interchange, the cross-county trail, and the Route 63 bridge over the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Horsham Township signed on last year for the Eastern Montco Interchanges Group, joining Upper Moreland and Upper Dublin townships to form the group that will facilitate future construction at three Pennsylvania Turnpike interchanges. Those are for Willow Grove, Welsh Road, and Virginia Drive.

Edmond said that a consultant, Boles Smyth, has been hired to schedule meetings and begin the process for the projects to move forward.

Each town would contribute at least three years of funding at $10,000 a year with a maximum of seven years. Horsham Township approved $70,000 in funding.

Edmond said the strategy is to:

• Fund improvements to surrounding roads to lower the turnpike investment.
• Work with elected officials and developers to spur the turnpike to build interchanges.
• Put interchanges in the capital project.
• Towns build or improve roads around the interchanges.

The group allows municipalities to share information and better coordinate their road projects.