State Street on Harrisburg’s Allison Hill
Over the years, I haven’t held back in criticizing the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
PennDOT has an enormous presence in the city of Harrisburg, and, with that should come an enormous responsibility.
But it’s a responsibility that I’ve felt the agency has profoundly neglected in its singular focus on getting state workers in—and then out—of Harrisburg as fast as humanly possible. In so doing, it’s been arrogantly cavalier about the lives of the people who live here, whose flesh-and-blood bodies are no match for speeding hunks of steel.
But might there finally be change afoot at PennDOT?
This past week, city Engineer Wayne Martin told City Council that PennDOT had approved the city’s “Rapid Response” plan for State Street, which includes new curbs, lighting, ADA ramps and, the biggest shock of all, a narrower road—all designed to improve pedestrian safety.
Was I floored? Yes, I was.
Now, this approval didn’t come easily.
Originally, PennDOT’s district officials rejected the city’s plan, concerned it might slow down its commuters, which, incidentally, is the point. So, the city went over their heads, directly to top agency honchos, including two department secretaries, where they found a more receptive and responsible audience.
“Narrowing that road and reducing the crossing distance for pedestrians is really what needs to be done, and that’s what finally everyone agrees to,” Martin told council members.
So, huge kudos to PennDOT—and to city officials for making it happen.
Let us now hope that this change has legs.
As regular Burg readers may know, I’ve long advocated for changes to the eight-plus-lane asphalt monstrosity known as Forster Street. Just as State Street is a menace to upper Harrisburg, Forster Street is a menace to lower Harrisburg.
Like State Street, state-owned Forster Street needs to be put on a serious road diet. Harrisburg may never reclaim the quaint neighborhood lane it lost in the 1950s, but it can get a vastly improved road with bike lanes, bump-outs and more green space.
This would make perilous Forster Street much safer for both vehicles and pedestrians, while helping to stitch the city back together by narrowing the paved canyon currently dividing downtown and Midtown.
I have two other bold asks of PennDOT. First, the agency should scale back its proposal to widen I-83 in south Harrisburg. Secondly, it should take measures to slow down traffic and improve pedestrian safety on Front Street.
PennDOT—you’ve shown you can act in good faith and in the best interests of the people of Harrisburg. Please don’t stop now. We need just a few other things from you, measures that could vastly improve the quality of life for those live, visit and, yes, even work in the capital city.
Lawrance Binda is co-publisher/editor-in-chief of TheBurg.
