DVRPC Adds Schuylkill Valley MetroRail to Delaware Valley's Long Range Plan.

Business Editors

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2000

After months of careful consideration, the Board of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) voted 13-1, last Friday, to amend the region's Year 2020 Long Range Land Use and Transportation Plan to include MetroRail, the locally preferred alternative for the Schuylkill Valley Corridor.

The vote had been tabled at a previous Board meeting to give the City of Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) an opportunity to discuss additional transit service for MetroRail at the 52nd Street Station to the City's Zoo, Art Museum, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and Community College.

This proposed light rail service connecting with MetroRail would also provide access to Fairmount Park and the West Philadelphia Empowerment Zone. The MetroRail amendment does not preclude implementation of the City's light rail proposal, but additional study will be required before the DVRPC Board can consider adding it to the Year 2020 Plan.

MetroRail, which was adopted by SEPTA's and BARTA's (Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority) Board's of Directors, is scheduled to run 62 miles from Philadelphia to Wyomissing, just west of Reading in Berks County, to Philadelphia with a spur from King of Prussia joining the main line at Port Kennedy.

The MetroRail plan calls for two levels of service: the first is a long-haul service that would run between Wyomissing and Market East via Bala Cynwyd, providing express rail between Conshohocken and Ivy Ridge; and the other is local service running between King of Prussia and 30th Street Station via East Falls. This new service would replace the existing R6 Norristown and R6 Cynwyd lines.

Based on 15-minute peak and 30-minute off-peak headways, this alternative, at a cost of $1.4 billion, is expected to attract about 50,000 daily weekday trips by the year 2020; of this amount, 27,350 will be new SEPTA riders. SEPTA and BARTA envision service to be initiated in 2007.

As the designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the region, DVRPC was charged with determining whether the proposed MetroRail plan met such criteria as traffic congestion relief, air quality improvement and mobility enhancement. DVRPC was also charged with assessing public sentiment about this significant project.

A public comment period was opened from August 17th through September 15th, 2000 and a public meeting was held on Wednesday, September 6, 2000 in the PennDOT Building in King of Prussia, PA. During that period, DVRPC received dozens of comments from citizens and stakeholders throughout the region. Overall, the public voiced support for rail service in the Schuylkill Valley growth corridor.

"The proposed MetroRail service has the potential not only to fill a real and growing need for public transportation in the Schuylkill Valley corridor, but also to contribute substantially to urban revitalization and economic development in such older urban centers as Norristown, Phoenixville, Pottstown and Reading. It may well be the most promising new public transit project under consideration anywhere in the United States," said Colin A. Hanna, Chester County Commissioner.

The evaluation process continues with the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), by SEPTA and BARTA, in early 2001.

DVRPC serves as the official planning and review agency for the nine-county metropolitan region, which comprises Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania; and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer counties in New Jersey. Through data collection, research, coordination, and planning efforts, DVRPC sets a framework for governmental decisions affecting development within the Delaware Valley.