S.A.V.E. Rt. 41, Southern Chester County, PA: Beyond 41

Beyond 41

Beyond 41

S.A.V.E.'s goals include nothing less than instituting fundamental changes in transportation and land use policy through a nationally significant model project on PA 41 that balances transportation planning with community goals. Using Route 41 as a case study, the implications of S.A.V.E.'s efforts extend far beyond Route 41.

In addition to our focus on Route 41, S.A.V.E. has become increasingly involved in other related transportation projects and land use issues in the southern Chester County region. S.A.V.E.'s involvement and technical assistance to organizations and municipalities regarding transportation and planning issues includes:

Exploration of the benefits of modern roundabouts when intersection improvements are contemplated, including:

Providing technical assistance, public outreach, and engineering review for the roundabout constructed on Route 82 near Unionville (opened August 2005), the first modern roundabout in Pennsylvania on a state numbered highway.
Technical assistance and engineering concepts to support the proposed roundabout on Route 52 in Pocopson Township.
Options for roundabouts and traffic calming features on major roads in Londonderry Township.

Advocacy and technical assistance for the preservation of historic bridges, including:

Mortonville stone arch bridge (East Fallowfield Township)
Speakman covered bridge (West Marlborough Township)
Chandler Mill Bridge (Kennett Township)
Green Valley Road Bridge (Newlin Township)

As well as promoting the proposed reconstruction of covered bridges including

Bellbank Bridge(Upper Oxford, Chester County to Colerain Township, Lancaster County)
Rissers Mill Bridge (Lancaster County)

Miscellaneous

A context sensitive commercial development ordinance passed in Londonderry Township in 2005.
S.A.V.E. acted as a leading advocate in the success of H.B 619 – State legislation passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Rendell in late 2005, to expand the definition of agricultural properties to include a broader range of equine operations.
Facilitating the Route 82 Byway Nomination process

More on Specific Projects:

Mortonville Bridge

Mortonville Bridge
Click for enlargement

Successful advocacy efforts by S.A.V.E. and the East Fallowfield Historic Commission have led to a reversal of fortunes for this historic stone arch bridge. The Mortonville Bridge is a 230' four-span, closed spandrel stone arch bridge carrying Strasburg Road over the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek. It was built in 1826 by Wilson Buffington and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing element of the Strasburg Road Thematic Group. It retains high integrity of design, materials and workmanship as an early example of masonry arch bridge technology in Chester County and is one of the County's oldest stone arch bridges in continuous use.

Like many historic bridges throughout the Commonwealth, the Mortonville Bridge is a community landmark. It is well known to area residents and daily travelers of Strasburg Road, helping to establish the rural character of the existing historic roadway with its twists, turns and winding, hilly nature with essentially nonexistent shoulders. Average daily traffic counts in 2001 were approximately 4,350 vehicles. Although the width of the historic bridge and its curved approaches may not conform to modern engineering standards, they serve as physical traffic calming devices, encouraging drivers to slow down, drive courteously and obey the posted speed limits. Federal Highway Administration guidelines do allow flexibility in design when improvements to an historic bridge are being contemplated

Off and on for two decades, PennDOT developed and proposed plans to bypass the bridge with a new, wider modern structure. Meanwhile, the Mortonville Bridge went largely neglected and, once the new bridge was built, its fate would be uncertain. PennDOT suggested the bridge could become a pedestrian bridge and offered it through its Adopt-A-Bridge Program, but had no takers. So, in all likelihood the historic bridge would become "demolished by neglect."

Following nomination of the Mortonville bridge – as a case study highlighting the threat to many historic bridges throughout the Commonwealth – to Preservation Pennsylvania's 2005 Endangered Historic Resources List, PennDOT announced that the Mortonville Bridge would instead receive a "substantial rehabilitation" including a widening of up to 4 feet. Nearby residents and East Fallowfield Township representatives are thrilled with this announcement, as to them the bridge is a historic part of their community, acts as a traffic calming feature along Strasburg Road, and the alternative of new bridge construction would have significant, undesirable environmental and community impacts.

Even though PennDOT's pledge to rehab the bridge had been made, in late 2005, Preservation Pennsylvania accepted the nomination of the Mortonville Bridge to its 2005 Endangered list in order to draw attention to the issues that potentially affect other historic bridges across the state.

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Bellbank Bridge

Originally built in 1850, Bellbank Bridge was named after Colonel James Patterson Bell, an important figure in the Revolutionary War. This covered bridge provided a crossing at Bell's Ford on the Octorara Creek next to Bell's home, grist mill and saw mill amidst the 1,200 acres he owned. Carrying the historic Street Road, it connects Upper Oxford Township (Chester County) to Colerain Township (Lancaster County).

In 1815 the Pennsylvania legislature authorized a state road to be laid out between the Market Street Bridge in Philadelphia and McCall's Ferry on the Susquehanna River. Parts of this road are still known as Street Road. In 1850, Robert Russell, one of the builders of the 1864 Pine Grove Bridge five miles down stream on the Octorara Creek, built a covered bridge at Bell's Ford.

Following a lightening strike and fire in June 1860, Russell was awarded a contract to rebuild the 112' Bellbank Bridge for $1,739. The bridge then survived a threat in the 1960's when the highway department was persuaded, reportedly at the eleventh hour, not to demolish the bridge and replace it with a modern open structure but rather to rehab the historic covered bridge.

Unfortunately, the Bellbank Bridge burned again in the late 1970’s and a conventional open bridge took its place. Bellbank Bridge, previously owned by Chester County and referred to on the Chester County bridge inventory as Bridge #11, is now owned and maintained by PennDOT.

Prior to the 1970's replacement, author Arthur James, in his book Covered Bridges of Chester County, had described the Bellbank Bridge as having "an especially pleasing setting . . . surrounded by lush meadow pastures. Above the flood plain here the Octorara Valley hillsides are fertile farmland." That statement remains true today. Currently, a group of citizens is investigating the possibility of having the covered bridge reconstructed using modern standards but providing historic context to this lush and largely preserved agricultural valley. Please contact us for more information or lend your support!

Click for an image of the bridge from Arthur James's book, the bridge currently and the bridge with simulated cover.

Precedent for using state and federal funds to reconstruct a covered bridge exists very nearby along the scenic Brandywine Creek where DelDOT reconstructed the covered Smiths Bridge in 2002.
Learn more about the Smiths Bridge reconstruction and context sensitive solutions

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Rt. 82
Click for enlargement

H.B 619 – More farms now eligible for permanent protection! State legislation passed and signed by Governor Rendell in late 2005.

In 2003, after discussion with area landowners, realtors, and land trust representatives, S.A.V.E. requested that Rep. Art Hershey introduce legislation which would broaden the definition of equine properties under PA Act 43, the Agricultural Area Security Law. This concept had originally been proposed by Congressman Jim Gerlach in 1999 when he was in the state legislature. Prior to the passage of H.B. 619, the law only considered equine farms with commercial breeding operations as eligible under this protective legislation. Rep. Hershey shepherded this brief piece through the legislature and it was signed into law by Governor Rendell November 1, 2005. PA Act 43 now allows agricultural security areas and properties protected by agricultural conservation easements to include viable agricultural land on which "commercial equine activity" takes place, defined to include activities where a fee is collected for the boarding, training or pasturing of horses. It is our hope at S.A.V.E. that this broadened eligibility will foster the permanent preservation of additional farmland in Chester County and beyond.

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AES Sparrows Point / Mid-Atlantic Express and other proposed gas pipelines in Chester County

PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW

Call, fax or write now to implore the Commonwealth to Intervene and Appeal for Rehearing to protect our landscapes, watersheds, and safety:

Contact Governor Ed Rendell:

PHONE: 717-787-2500

FAX: 717-772-8284

WRITE: Governor Ed Rendell, 225 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

EMAIL: ra-govnews@state.pa.us or use this contact form

CLICK HERE to sign the Petition — Say "NO" to the AES Sparrows Point LNG project.

Its as simple as that. Here's more background:

Natural, agricultural and historic resources of Chester County are under assault from numerous proposed gas pipeline projects in various stages of project development. All are anticipated to have significant direct, indirect and cumulative environmental impacts on resources in and near the pipeline corridors and even far downstream in the watersheds through which they are built. S.A.V.E. is working to avoid or mitigate to the greatest extent possible these projects in order to minimize environmental harm and degradation of quality of life and to ensure the safety and rights of the region's citizens. Many feel that these current projects are the result of National Energy Policy Act changes following 9/11 that went too far in eradicating state's rights and represent an imbalance between the federal responsibility for national energy policy and local land use decisions.

On January 15th, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stretched the limit of their authority by approving a proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal and pipeline from Sparrows Point, Maryland, in Baltimore County, to Eagle, Pennsylvania with an unprecedented 169 conditions that would need to be met before construction could begin.

Facts about the proposed project:

Approximately 150 LNG tankers would travel 124 miles up the Chesapeake each year to offload at the Sparrows Point terminal
The pipeline would run a total of 32 miles through Chester County, seven of which would be across permanently preserved open space and agricultural lands
In Chester County, more than 400 parcels in fourteen municipalities would be impacted
AES states that the total 88 miles of pipeline construction would have a "temporary" impact on about 1,801 acres of land
The proposed pipeline would cross within 50' of 179 residences and 56 other buildings
The project directly impacts the Chesapeake and Delaware River watersheds, including the Brandywine, Octorara, Elks, and White Clay Creeks.

FERC granted the project conditional approval, even though:

More than 30 federal, state and county permits and processes remain uncompleted, some not yet even initiated, so the public has not had access to a full review by agencies such as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the State Historic Preservation Office.
An Emergency Management Plan has not yet been filed or available for public review
Assessment of impacts to wetlands and endangered species remains incomplete
Numerous private property owners and government agencies have expressed concern in writing to FERC and filed for standing as Interveners, including: Londonderry, East Fallowfield, West Marlborough Newlin, East Bradford, and Upper Uwchlan Townships.
Risk to water quality has received inadequate attention to date. In just one example, the project would cross the Brandywine Creek and its tributaries more than 36 times — with open blasting being the preferred method of crossing by AES-Mid-Atlantic, presumably because drilling a line under the creeks and rivers would be more costly, even if it would reduce environmental impact of erosion and sedimentation and degradation of water quality.
By FERC's own admission "Pipeline construction could also affect wells and septic systems."
The extent to which existing tree cover would be destroyed remains undetermined
Studies are incomplete regarding the potential impact the LNG facility might have on air quality in the region — already a designated "Non-Attainment Zone."
The Pennsylvania and Maryland Congressional delegations have expressed concern about the project and its seemingly expedited process with inadequate information provided to the public and time allotted for review and comment.
The expansion of gas pipelines through the region may well serve to facilitate the construction of potentially even more onerous electric transmission lines

In FERC's January 15th decision, now-Acting FERC Chair, Jon Wellinghoff raised some thoughtful concerns, echoing many of our own, including whether the AES / Mid-Atlantic project is needed to serve the energy needs of the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions, and if the future energy needs of these regions can be better served with alternative resources, such as domestic natural gas and renewable resources, and with less environmental impact. Wellinghoff's comments include:

That the majority opinion utilized outdated data in natural gas energy consumption projections in its decision, and, using more current data, he confirms a significantly lower projected increase in natural gas use in the Mid-Atlantic region, and a decrease in usage in the South Atlantic region.
AES did not prove that it has a ready LNG supply under contract. As recently as year-end September 2008, existing LNG terminals in the U.S. operated at an average of 10% capacity. LNG supply capacity is even now struggling to keep pace with international demand, while the U.S. remains a "market of last resort."
The FEIS provides no analysis of domestic natural gas infrastructure and renewable and distributed energy resources as alternatives and data shows that these sources of energy supply are reasonable, environmentally preferable alternatives.
The FEIS was dismissive of requests to look more closely at renewable resources as an alternative to the Sparrows Point project. "Without analysis, the FEIS reaches the conclusion that the projected energy needs of the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions cannot be met by alternative energy sources." However the data shows otherwise.
"Environmental and community concerns have not been fully and fairly evaluated."

Allowing construction of such a facility and pipeline infrastructure runs counter to tax-payer funded programs of farmland preservation, open space conservation, restoration of riparian buffers, the federally funded White Clay Creek Wild & Scenic River designation, and Governor Rendell's strategy to create an energy-independent Commonwealth. The AES LNG facility would solely support foreign-based sources of natural gas, rather than home-grown, sustainable, and Pennsylvania-based energy sources. In addition, it appears that the company wants taxpayers to foot much of the bill for any security changes that may need to be implemented, especially unfair because the natural gas will originate from foreign countries.

In 2008, both the Chester County Planning Commission and the Chester County Water Resources Authority submitted extensive and thorough comments to FERC regarding the AES project. The vast majority of the concerns raised by these and many other agencies, organizations and citizens continue to be unaddressed, unresolved and of great concern. Chester County's nationally recognized comprehensive plan components, Landscapes and Watersheds, were created to ensure that sound strategies and priorities be employed to balance water resources stewardship, public safety, and growth management needs of the County and its constituents. They are the foundation of Chester County citizens' expectations of life in Chester County.

Existing gas pipelines in Chester County

LINKS FOR MORE INFO:

Web links:

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