WILLIAMS ON PROPOSAL TO EASE TURNPIKE CONGESTION AT VALLEY FORGE

HARRISBURG, OCT. 31 – During a news conference in King of Prussia today, state Sen. Connie Williams commended the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association for coming up with a temporary solution designed to ease traffic congestion at the Valley Forge exit of the Turnpike during a road widening project that got underway earlier this month.

"Traffic backups and congestion not only create a financial hardship for businesses and commuters trying to get to work or personal appointments, but they can be dangerous," Williams said. "While the end result of the road widening project will ease a bottleneck traffic area, something had to be done to keep traffic moving throughout the project. The temporary deceleration lane is a simple, but hopefully useful solution."

Williams said that she began hearing on traffic reports and from constituents concerned with traffic backups on the Turnpike westbound shortly after the project began on Oct. 16^th. While road expansion projects can create new traffic problems and some delays, the problem is more acute between Norristown and Valley Forge where about 20,000 vehicles use the Valley Forge exit on a daily basis.

The temporary deceleration lane will be located adjacent to the existing one and will allow two westbound traffic lanes to use the Valley Forge off ramps. The far right lane will be dedicated to exit-only traffic, while the center lane will have the option of exiting. The far left lane will be for non-exiting traffic only.

"It will take some adjustment for motorists as they begin to use the new system, but it should help motorists and move more traffic more quickly off the Turnpike," Williams said. "This temporary fixed combined with efforts to compress the construction schedule and finish the project as quickly as possible, should begin to address the issue."

According to the Turnpike Commission, the project completion date of late 2008 will represent the shortest reconstruction project since the commission began rebuilding the road back in the late 1990s. Typically, similar projects take three to four years to complete.