King Of Prussia SEPTA Rail Public Hearing Is Wednesday

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA — The next public hearings in the proposed King of Prussia SEPTA rail extension project will be held on Wednesday evening at the Norristown Municipal Building.

The hearings, open to the public, will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will offer residents the chance to learn more about the project and ask important questions.

This project proposes an expansion of the existing Norristown High Speed Line into King of Prussia. The line would stop once at Henderson Road before following the Pennsylvania Turnpike into the King of Prussia Mall. There would be two stops at the mall, another in the KOP business park, and a final stop at the Valley Forge Casino.

The project has not been met with universal support, although there has long been discussion surrounding the extension of SEPTA into the underserved area around King of Prussia. Some of the most notable criticisms of the project involve the fact that it does not involve the Route 422 corridor, one of busiest roads in the region, whatsoever.

"I believe that it is a huge missed opportunity," Upper Merion Supervisor Greg Philips said. "First, Upper Merion Township is seeing renaissance of home and apartment construction. The Village at Valley Forge would be the perfect place to have a station. Second, there are no plans to develop a rail extension along the 422 corridor...Why not provide a rail line to significantly reduce that volume?"

Supporters tout a reduction in traffic and pollution and an increase in convenience as reasons for the project.

"A dedicated transit line into the center of King of Prussia is vital to connecting suburban Philadelphia's largest employment center and the East Coast's largest shopping mall to rail," writes the KOP Rail Coalition in an outline of the proposed extension.

The KOP Rail Coalition was formed in 2015 but has gained renewed steam with the publication last week of a new draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), according to the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association (GVFTMA). The project is headed up by Brandywine Realty CEO Jerry Sweeney.

The draft environmental impact statement is available for public review and comment through Dec. 4. To comment on the project, see here.

For further details on the project, see our previous coverage here.

The Norristown Municipal Building is lcoated at 235 E. Airy Street.

Images courtesy VisitKOP.com