Pettinaro Construction Co., Concord Township and PennDOT are scheduled to have a pre-construction meeting Monday, June 4 to discuss some of the details involved with the planned shopping center on Ridge Road at Route 202. Chadds Ford Township engineer Mike Schneider and Township Manager Matt DiFilippo will be attending.
The shopping center has been a point of concern in Chadds Ford because, while in Concord, it’s on the border of the two townships and plans call for widening Ridge Road to six lanes from 202 to just beyond the property. Chadds Ford residents fear excessive traffic and supervisors engaged in several pieces of litigation to get the road widening provision changed.
Schneider said he would take detailed notes and report back to Chadds Ford supervisors and residents during the June 6 supervisors’ meeting.
The topic came up during the Board of Supervisors’ May 30 workshop meeting as Schneider was updating the board on some PennDOT projects. He said the department plans to repave Ridge Road but will also add some striping and some signage to help deter truck traffic from using Ridge and Ring Road.
Signs informing truckers that only local delivery trucks are permitted are to be placed at Ring and Route 1 and at Ridge and 202. Striping along Ridge will include having the speed limit posted on the road surface.
Other business
•The board also heard from The Henderson Group, owner of Painters Crossing Shopping Center and the Chadds Ford Business Campus. Part of the shopping center property contains the Knights’ Bridge Waste Water Treatment Plant. Henderson wants to upgrade that facility and was looking to get some direction from supervisors on how to proceed.
According to Henderson representatives, the upgrade would increase the plant’s efficiency and reduce its impervious surface. One issue that needs to be worked out is whether Henderson would have to go through the land development process because the upgrade calls for covering the “trains,” those areas of the plant from the intake of wastewater to the point of discharge. Covering the trains will cut down on the possibility of odors escaping, according to engineer Chuck Olivo.
• Greg Chestnut, of the Rachel Kohl Library Board of Trustees, told supervisors that the library is looking to upgrade its HVAC system and needs money for the project. It’s a $150,000 job, he said.
The Library is applying for a state grant that would cover half the cost but needs the member townships to cover the rest. He said Chadds Ford’s share would be $7,800, roughly twice the township’s annual contribution. Chestnut added though, that would only be for one year.
Supervisors’ Chairman Frank Murphy said they would let the library know later, possibly at next week’s regular monthly meeting.
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.
