TodayDickinson College helps fund traffic study
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Article RatingDickinson College has pledged up to $50,000 to have a professional engineering firm conduct a comprehensive traffic study of downtown Carlisle and the surrounding area.
College officials have joined leaders from four other community groups to request the borough consider the proposal at the Sept. 13 council meeting.
The groups include the Downtown Carlisle Association, the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania, the LeTort Regional Regional Authority and the Redevelopment and Housing Authorities of Cumberland County.
Together, they drafted a letter to council president Donald Grell asking to be listed on the meeting agenda and that a study proceed as soon as possible.
The letter calls on council to follow through with comprehensive plan goals of minimizing negative impact on traffic in residential neighborhoods, examine ways to reduce truck traffic through downtown and promote bicycling and walking.
Will take six months
DCA main street manager Karen Barone said the study would take about six months to complete and should do more than just survey the origin and destination of traffic.
Chris Gulotta, executive director of the county authority, said it would be up to council to decide which firm to hire and when to begin the study.
He added it would be left to the professionals to develop a scope of work in keeping with the goals of the comprehensive and objectives the five groups outlined in the letter.
The five groups want the study to identify ways to “calm” traffic, reduce noise, enhance the small town “feel” of the borough and improve the accessibility and safety of parking.
Gulotta said the strategies should be crafted so there is little or no negative impact on local business, including the warehousing and distribution businesses.
He added that the study is needed to determine how changes in traffic flow could impact the quality of life and efforts to revitalize residential neighborhoods.
Any change in downtown traffic flow could mean a change in the overall pattern which is why the five groups are recommending a comprehensive study of the whole Carlisle area.
Chris Houston, chairman of the LeTort Authority board, said the request for a traffic study comes as his group is undertaking a master plan to create a network of trails within the watershed.
That network could include urban trails within Carlisle to link borough parks so any knowledge of the overall traffic pattern could help in improving pedestrian and bicycle access, Houston said.
Another goal of the traffic study will be to find ways to reduce pollutants from vehicles that run off into LeTort Spring Run and pollute the air with particulates.
Rusty Shunk is executive vice president of college and community development. He said the $50,000 pledge is based on an estimate by a traffic engineer and is an extension of the college's commitment to downtown revitalization.
“We see the college as part of the community,” Shunk said.
