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PennDot delays release of alternate Rte. 202 study
More work is needed, an official said. Supporters of the bypass were incensed.

Results of a state review of an alternative to the suspended Route 202 bypass between Montgomeryville and Doylestown will be delayed further for more study, PennDot announced yesterday.

The postponement angered highway supporters anxious for traffic relief, but delighted environmentalists who fear the four-lane road would lead to increased suburban sprawl.

The study was commissioned to evaluate whether traffic circles and road improvements would be a suitable, cheaper alternate to the proposed nine-mile bypass. But after reviewing a draft in November, Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler "decided more work was necessary," PennDot deputy secretary Larry King told elected and local transportation officials yesterday in Montgomery Township, Montgomery County.

King declined comment on what issues remained unresolved and when the study would be complete and made public. When it is finished, the state will seek public comment on it, King told a group of 30 elected and transportation officials gathered for a quarterly meeting on the Route 202 corridor at the Montgomery Township building.

Gov. Rendell sidelined the proposed $320 million bypass in March, citing a shortage of highway funding. In April, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced it would begin evaluating a $68 million alternative that would route traffic through roundabouts and upgrade roads between Doylestown and Montgomeryville. Fearing sprawl, towns east of Doylestown favor the alternative, which was developed by the Vermont firm Smart Mobility Inc. Meanwhile, residents and commuters west of Doylestown continue to face traffic tie-ups on strained roads.

Rep. Eugene McGill (R., Montgomery) yesterday voiced anger at PennDot's delay.

"I cannot tell you how disgusted I am. . . . This is the result of some ignorant neighbors in the northern part of the corridor," McGill said. "We have now wasted a year, and we have no answers. We are going nowhere."

Opponents of the bypass were pleased by PennDot's delay and its promise to seek community input.

"This is something that could represent a real opportunity for cooperation. It will be the beginning of dialogue. There hasn't been any," Robert Sugarman, the lawyer representing Buckingham Township, said in an interview yesterday.

Montgomery Township continues its pro-highway campaign. A township survey, which is being conducted online, shows that 76 percent of those responding support the bypass, Township Manager John B. Nagel said yesterday. The questionnaire is available at www.montgomerytwp.org.

Last fall, the township hired, each at a rate of $7,500 a month, the Tierney Group, a prominent advertising company, and S.R. Wojdak & Associates Inc., a Harrisburg lobbying firm.

The lobby of the township building contains an array of pro-bypass materials, including free lawn campaign signs that say "Build the Bypass."

Meanwhile, the Build the Bypass Coalition, a group of township residents, businesses and advocacy organizations, has begun discussing alternatives to the bypass. Options being discussed include building a two-lane highway in the right-of-way that the township has been acquiring for decades.

Still other groups are also calling for the use of buses along Route 202 that make few stops and use dedicated travel lanes.

Contact staff writer Jere Downs at 610-313-8128 or jdowns@phillynews.com.

Copyright (c) 2005 The Philadelphia Inquirer