PennDOT’s plan for the Bayfront includes “highway style ramps” and exits that will require large signage absent from this illustration. PennDOT anticipates at least a doubling of waterfront traffic after their $100M arterial highway project is completed.
PennDOT’s Bayfront plan is designed connect and keep traffic moving between I-79 and Rt. 290. PennDOT’s project will also increase traffic on Rt. 290 (the only Eastside route to school, work, etc. since the demolition of the Viaduct.)
The community is invited gather in front of the Blasco Library 4pm, Tuesday, September 21 to consider Connect Urban Erie’s proposed Bayfront Highway Resolution calling for PennDOT to adjust current plans and reduce induced cross-town traffic volumes by prioritizing north-south connectivity and traffic calming.
Adam Trott and Roland Slade of Connect Urban Erie and CIVITAS will outline the ways that PennDOT’s Bayfront plan encourages cross-town traffic, harms city residents and undermines long-term economic development in Erie.
Erie’s Highway Timeline and the impacts of PennDOT’s plan on the residents of the downtown and Eastside (Zip Codes 16501, 16502 and 16503) will be discussed. While vehicular access is necessary to support Bayfront development, PennDOT’s plan rewards the 80% of current drivers from the suburbs, I-79 and Rt. 290 who use the Bayfront to bypass the city. In addition, PennDOT’s plan for elimination of an at-grade pedestrian crossing by removing Holland Street sidewalks, construction of wide lanes, double-lane roundabouts and a highway style underpass and ramps will help double traffic – including inappropriate cross-town traffic - and increase traffic speed, danger, noise, water and air pollution harming Erie’s residents, the environment and the economy.
Lastly, the Dec. 15, 2020 Federal Lawsuit against PennDOT’s plan (filed by Earth Justice on behalf of the NAACP and PennFuture) will be framed within the national debate regarding Departments of Transportation that deliberately circumvent the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirement for a NEPA Environmental Assessment. Allowing engineers to solve urban design planning (and later in the process inviting landscape architects and the community to comment after key decisions have been made) results in car-centric, unsustainable projects that undermine local walkability, connectivity and economic development and continue unlawful redlining of marginalized communities.