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Will Highway Hurt Port?

Potentially, a lot, at least in the thinking behind SAVE - Safety, Agriculture, Villages, Environment - a community group opposed to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's plan to improve 9.5 miles of PA Route 41 between the Delaware state line in Chester County and PA 926 in Chatham.

Aside from eliminating farmland, promoting sprawl, creating potential environmental hazards and threatening small-town life, SAVE contends the project will hurt the Port of Philadelphia by assisting the rival Port of Wilmington.

"The big new highway has the very real potential of further isolating and marginalizing the competitiveness of the Port of Philadelphia, which is already disadvantaged by its inland location relative to the Port of Wilmington," SAVE wrote on its Web site.

Peter Fontaine, a Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads lawyer based in Cherry Hill who is representing SAVE, said by widening PA 41 to four lanes, it would increase already heavy truck traffic on the road. Much of the traffic comes from the Port of Wilmington, headed to Harrisburg and western Pennsylvania, he said.

By making PA 41 more truck friendly, it might convince more cargo shippers to use the Port of Wilmington instead of its Philadelphia counterpart. Not only would truckers save time, but they could avoid the expense of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which costs truckers are much as $100 to traverse end-to-end.

"There's little question that it's a question of competitiveness," Fontaine said.

The argument has some merit, said Bill McLaughlin, a Port of Philadelphia spokesman. "We've communicated our concerns to PennDOT. We'd rather they didn't do it."

Still, the port isn't on red alert.

"It is always difficult to estimate how big of a threat it might be," he said.

McLaughlin noted that when PennDOT upgraded Delaware Avenue to make it more appealing for commercial uses, the agency worked with the port to make sure the road's industrial uses weren't hindered.

PennDOT's taken the offensive on promoting the project, establishing a Web site, www.pa41.com, which includes a section called "reality checks" to address opposition and what it labels as misinformation.

"We're not going to do anything to harm our ports and workers," said Michael J. Girman, who manages a project first proposed nearly a decade ago and identified as a problem in 1986.

PA 41 needs widening because of congestion, truck traffic and fatalities, he said. SAVE is trying to trump up several issues.

"They conjure up some 200-mile Port of Wilmington express," he said. "We have been working with the same organization for years. After we address one issue, they go on to something else."

The widening of PA 41 still isn't assured. PennDOT is looking at several alternatives, including leave the road two lanes, while improving things such as shoulders.

Instead of widening the highway, SAVE suggests problems could be solved by prohibiting through-bound trucks, implementing "traffic calming" measures and increasing existing law enforcement.

Girman said PennDOT surveys show most of the trucks using PA41 are making regional deliveries to the Lancaster area. About 16 percent of all traffic on the road is comprised of heavy trucks, while all truck traffic makes up 30 percent of volume.

SAVE Chairman Densey Juvenon of Coatesville challenged Girman's assertion about the nature of truck traffic.

"From everything we gather, it is coming out of the Port of Wilmington," she said.

Paul Ignudo, director of engineering and development for the Port of Wilmington, said some port cargo ends up in trucks that use PA 41, but doesn't believe road improvements would increase traffic.

"W already have Dole and Chiquita using that corridor," he said, noting that from the port, trucks have to use Interstate 495, Interstate 95 and Delaware 141 before reaching PA 41. "It's not that convenient of an access. It's a fairly convoluted route now."

A local community group that supports the road project downplayed the possibility the Port of Wilmington could benefit at the expense of the Port of Philadelphia.

"It's a whole different product and market they're after at Wilmington," said Linda Ingenthron of West Grove, a member of the Southern Chester County Organization on Transportation.

Ingenthron said the Delaware port specializes in fruit and automobiles. The Philadelphia port also handles fruit, but deals heavily in bulk cargoes such as timber and steel. Further, the Port of Wilmington may not have the room to expand.

Truckers support the highway expansion for safety reasons, not political ones.

"You don't want to operate on an unsafe highway," said Jim Runk, president of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association. "It's up to the shippers to decide on a port."

Sam Fleetman, president of Mustang Expediting Inc. of Aston, said her drivers regularly use PA 41 and will continue to do so, despite single traffic lanes in each direction. Her drivers deliver to the Lancaster area.

"It's the only real truck route that's efficient to get from point A to point B."