Ridge Road litigation stopped

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on March 9, 2018

Chadds Ford Township will not appeal the court decision that dismissed the township’s complaint against Pettinaro Construction and Concord Township. Chadds Ford has been fighting the planned widening of Ridge Road for more than a year.

Widening the road to six lanes for one-quarter of a mile is part of the commercial development at Ridge and Route 202 in Concord. But that stretch of road abuts and leads into Chadds Ford Township.

“I see no benefit in going forward…Our litigation is over,” said Chadds Ford Township Supervisors’ Chairman Frank Murphy during the March 8 Board of Supervisors’ meeting.

As he has said repeatedly during the last 15 months — as residents along Ridge Road have urged the township to fight the proposed widening — the die was already cast when he and the other supervisors came on to the board. Murphy was elected supervisor in 2013 and fellow Supervisors Samantha Reiner and Noelle Barbone were elected in 2015. Concord approved the project in 2008.

Reiner agreed with Murphy, saying the township had exhausted its appeals and should accept the advice of township solicitor Mike Maddren to drop litigation. Instead, she said, the township should work with PennDOT and with state Rep. Stephen Barrar and state Sen. Tom Killion to keep truck traffic off Ridge Road.

Barbone wasn't at the meeting to offer her opinion, but Murphy said she felt the same as he and Reiner.

Plans for the development, The Shops at Ridge Road, call for the main entrance to be on Ridge. While southbound Route 202 traffic can enter and exit the site at two points on 202, northbound 202 traffic would have to turn left onto Ridge, then make another left into the property. Likewise, traffic wanting to go north on 202 after leaving the center, would have to exit onto Ridge, then turn right to the intersection.

Other business

Supervisors authorized the payment of $615,000 plus closing costs for Painters Folly. The settlement date is set for March 29.

The township will use the 4-acre site for open space and, according to Murphy, the purchase represents the first time the township is using open space funds for open space preservation.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.