The Lehigh Valley is one of the fastest growing regions not only in the state, but when it comes to industrial growth it’s one of the fastest growing regions in the nation.
But Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, told a crowd at the Mack Experience Center in Allentown that with that growth comes responsibility.
She was speaking at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Transportation Forum, on why the Lehigh Valley’s growth has put pressure on many different transportation issues in the state.
As the eighth largest industrial market in the U.S. -- larger than Seattle, Baltimore and South Florida the region is facing a transportation nightmare if it doesn’t adapt to the changes.
She noted that while larger than those regions, the Lehigh Valley doesn’t have a water port, meaning rail, air and over the road freight are all important to the region’s economy.
To help address the needs of those transportation services, Bradley said the Eastern Pennsylvania Freight Alliance has created a Joint infrastructure plan to tie into such resources as Lehigh Valley International Airport and mass transit services.
They’re also coordinating zoning between municipalities to balance the needs of industry with infrastructure and transportation issues.
“If workers can’t get to the job site, what is the point of having the facility?” Bradley asked.
With the Lehigh Valley having the second largest airport for cargo in the state, right after Philadelphia, Tom Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority, investment in the infrastructure at Lehigh Valley International Airport is important.
He noted that airport cargo traffic has seen four consecutive years of growth and has seen 100% in cargo traffic growth since the pandemic.
LVIA moved more than 275 million pounds of cargo last year.
After completing a $35 million upgrade to the airport’s TSA checkpoint and other upgrades, Stoudt said more investment is coming.
He pointed to the Northside Logistics and Cargo Complex which will expand cargo operations at the airport.
“It will let us process cargo much more efficiently,” Stoudt said.
The employment levels are also an issue. The Lehigh Valley has more jobs than it has homes for those working those jobs, meaning commuter patterns are changing and impacting the area’s roadways.
PennDOT District 5, which serves the Lehigh Valley, maintains more than 3,300 miles of highway and around $2,200 bridges.
And the work PennDOT is performing right now is vital to maintaining the stability of local transportation.
A report released June 20 by TRIP, a Washington, DC-based national transpiration research nonprofit, showed that 10% of Bridges in the Lehigh Valley are currently rated as in poor condition with approximately 367,000 vehicles traveling across the poor-rated bridges each day.
Kerri Cutright, project delivery engineer for PennDOT District 5, said the agency is working hard to improve bridges in the region, recently completing the Wire Mill Bridge in Allentown and has other projects underway to rebuild the Cementon Bridge and to rebuild the Kernsville Bridge to name a few.
And while making improvements to transportation infrastructure, Bradley told the crowd that they need to be mindful of the environment as well.
She pointed to the alternative fuel and electric vehicle trucks that the event’s host, Mack Trucks has been building.
The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority is also converting to buses that are run on renewable gas, which is tapped locally from emissions from the region’s landfills.
The Planning Commission has also pitched a $115 million project to make roadways more green by actually adding green trees and pollinator-friendly plants along major roadways and transportation hubs.
Adding alternative fuel and electric vehicle charging stations along the major transportation arteries will also help encourage the adoption of such transportation.
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