The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority is awarding the City of Allentown $500,000 for Phase 3 of the American Parkway Lighting Project. The $500,000 is part of 105 Multimodal Transportation Funding Applications approved yesterday by the Authority.

The city applied for the grant in July 2018. It is to pay for final design and construction, including engineering, inspections and contingencies.

Currently, there is no street lighting other than the high-pressure sodium light on the bridge on the stretch from Airport Road to West Gordon Street covering just more than two miles. Phase 3 plans call for installation of 30 new LED street lights.

“The improvements will provide for the safe mobility of motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders,” said Mayor Ray O’Connell. “I want to thank the Authority for the allocation.”

The 2015 opening of the American Parkway Bridge crossing the Lehigh River and connecting the east and west sides introduced additional traffic in this area and increased the potential for redevelopment. Completion of the project will introduce consistent lighting as necessary to illuminate the roadway and immediate roadside along this distance, both in the form of street setback lighting and intersection lighting.

As per the current grant provisions, the city is not providing matching funds for this phase of the project. The city has provided a total of $210,000 in matching funds for previous phases.

It is estimated that the project will create 10 jobs.

The city application was endorsed by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and satisfies the goals of the City of Allentown Comprehensive Plan, Lehigh Valley Comprehensive Plan and the Lehigh Valley Surface Transportation Plan from a safety, mobility and multi-modal perspective.

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