In 2005, when the westward side of the Rt. 222 bypass opened, it was a long planned expensive state project, to eliminate congestion on a busy road.. By 2007, when the eastward side was completed, the commercial potential of the Krocks Road interesection was already being planned. The 63 acre shopping center now straddles both sides of Krocks Road, on the south side of the bypass. Target and some other stores have already open. Because the Hamilton Crossing developers also have the option on the north side of the bypass, the bypass promises to create more congestion than existed before the new road was built.
Besides the Jaindl family owning so much land in the county, this portion of the bypass is designated the Fred Jaindl Memorial Highway.
ADDENDUM: When I opened the Morning Call this morning, they coincidentally had an article on the expanding commerce of the bypass. Although, I sometimes do write in response to an article in the paper, such was not the case today. When I do write in response, I link to the source article.
The congestion caused by this shopping center (and even a few shopping centers elsewhere on the "bypass" corridor") is gonna be NOTHING compared to the congestion caused by the trucks going to and from the new mega warehouses at Mill Creek. That will be the real nail in the coffin for livability here. Just wait. People say the bypass is turning into MacArthur Road. I say, it's turning into Route 100. If you want to see what massive truck traffic looks like, hang out at Wawa at Schantz and Route 100 in Upper Mac for a few minutes. Better yet, try to drive the stretch of Route 100 between Schantz and Tilghman. But be careful!
ReplyDeleteOn the other end of the bypass, Lowes wants to build a new store right on top of Schantz Springs. God only knows what's in that soil that will become airborne or get into the water system once construction begins. (Who knows what the Hamilton Crossings project threw into the air?) The dangers of having truck traffic going on little tiny Schantz Road, right over the springs, cannot be understated. In addition to the traffic nightmare, an environmental disaster is just waiting to happen.
People who live nearby, like myself, have watched our beautiful township go straight down the drain. I love my neighborhood - I love it so much - but I cannot see continuing to live here once my kids are out of the house. I just don't want to dodge trucks the rest of my life. The township officials say, repeatedly, that they are legally obligated to allow warehouses to be built seemingly everywhere, while residents like myself repeatedly complain that enough is enough. Why do we even need township officials if they are helpless to solve the biggest problem of this area?
It's gonna be a disaster in Lower and Upper Macungie. The geniuses who run our governments have so much love of the congestion of cities that they want to treat the suburbanites to the same joy. That project should have been a few hundred cottage homes for the over 55 gang who would pay high taxes and not put one little butt in our schools....a win-win. But the moneyed interest of the New York developers (who get tax deferrals that residents wouldn't have gotten) won over the leaders of our once-bucolic suburbs.
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