Open House for Future Paoli Transportation Center

**mixiboi** · 10-09-2012, 04:22 PM

Lots of interesting things going on here:

SEPTA | Paoli Transportation Visions Open House

And they made all these tiny sites for it.....

Paoli On The Move

The Paoli Intermodal Transportation Center |

Paoli Transit

**eldondre** · 10-23-2012, 10:00 PM

what's interesting is that this event is NOT TAKING PLACE IN PAOLI but at the township building in berwyn off 202, nowhere near the train station. representative of the approach that is likely to be taken?

**Volanova** · 10-23-2012, 10:48 PM

Ugh. It's this idiocy that keeps transit in the suburbs hobbled. "Come tell us about how you want better integration with transit! But you have to drive to get to where we're holding the meeting. Sorry. We couldn't, you know, do it in one of the train stations."

**eldondre** · 10-29-2012, 12:17 PM

two of the proposals are flat out awful. the only decent proposal is the darby rd alternative.
SEPTA debuts design phase of new Paoli Intermodal Transportation Center | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future
it would appear they are intent on reducing track capacity which may have made sense 11 years ago but given ridership growth one would assume that the number of trains will increase (and that doesn't take into account any growth of amtrak service to places west of harrisburg). anything that takes a track out seems silly at this point.

**Volanova** · 11-01-2012, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by eldondre

two of the proposals are flat out awful. the only decent proposal is the darby rd alternative.
SEPTA debuts design phase of new Paoli Intermodal Transportation Center | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future
it would appear they are intent on reducing track capacity which may have made sense 11 years ago but given ridership growth one would assume that the number of trains will increase (and that doesn't take into account any growth of amtrak service to places west of harrisburg). anything that takes a track out seems silly at this point.

The idea of reducing track capacity is completely absurd. The Keystone Corridor is achieving record ridership and income and SEPTA's burdens on the lines aren't going to be going anywhere but up for the forseeable future. And if they ever increase service further west, then more trains will have to be added to the line. Any proposal that reduces track capacity should be scrapped from the get-go, and I really hope the DVARP hammers this home with SEPTA and Amtrak.

**mixiboi** · 11-01-2012, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by eldondre

two of the proposals are flat out awful. the only decent proposal is the darby rd alternative.

What is awful about them? the Darby rd one looks the most expensive since they would have to build a road over the tracks and lines..

**eldondre** · 11-01-2012, 03:56 PM

Volanova-I agree but a lot of these plans were drawn up a long time ago and going backward is pretty acceptable these days.

Originally Posted by mixiboi

What is awful about them? the Darby rd one looks the most expensive since they would have to build a road over the tracks and lines..

Valley rd is the connection to phoenixville, this proposal forces those riders over the dangerous valley rd bridge and forces then onto busy lancaster. it also requires significant taking of private land.

same problems, and moving the station west is a problem since the walkup traffic primarily comes from the east.

**eldondre** · 11-01-2012, 04:11 PM

this plan moves the retail to 30 where what's left of the old town center is located, uses land more effectively by combining parking, taxis, and bus turnaround (like west chester), doesn't move the station (though it appears to eliminate track capaciy), takes less private land, eliminates a dangerous bridge and two dangerous intersections, and connects valley rd ro darby which runs to 252, and leaves the largest section of land open for mixed use development.

**Volanova** · 11-02-2012, 11:18 AM

Plan three is my favorite, so long as they can figure out a way to build the platforms without removing tracks (there's no way Amtrak would allow that anyway, hopefully).

It activates the street along Lancaster, provides for easy pedestrian access, and requires the least amount of demolition of private property. In addition, the new overpass extending Darby Road will smooth out traffic patterns through here.