The purpose of this project is to facilitate safe and efficient travel within and through the project study area to meet current and future transportation needs while providing a functional and modern roadway that meets driver expectations.
What are the anticipated opportunities for public involvement/comment for this project?
We anticipate additional virtual plans display (via this project website) and a virtual public meeting in 2025 as part of the Environmental Assessment process. Invitations and announcements will be made once the public meeting has been scheduled. Comments can be submitted at any time via the comment section of this website, email to info@us1bucks.com, or in writing to:
Sibty Hasan, P.E., P.M.P.
PennDOT District 6-0
7000 Geerdes Boulevard
King of Prussia, PA 19406
What is the status of PennDOT’s current preferred alternative, and where does the project currently stand?
The project is currently in the process of beginning additional (more detailed) environmental reviews through an Environmental Assessment. This began in November 2024 and will involve additional public involvement, including a public hearing.
Why was the previous alternative dismissed in 2014?
PennDOT considered an alternative that involved the replacement of the existing raised concrete traffic islands with full width paved shoulders and concrete median barrier separating mainline SR 0001 traffic from service road traffic. The alternative would eliminate the intermediate crossovers requiring entrance and exit at the northern and southern endpoints of the service roads and would replace the existing West Interchange Road overpass.
This alternative was presented at a public officials’ meeting, open house public plans display, and town hall meeting in May and September 2014. The public raised concerns involving increased traffic volumes along the service roads, increased emergency services response times to incidents along mainline SR 0001, and lack of noise mitigation.
- A traffic study was completed at the time this alternative was being developed. The results of that study determined there would be an increase in traffic volumes along the service roads (the southbound service road ranges from an 18.0% increase to a 625.0% increase with northbound ranging from 28.0% to 760.0% between 2050 no build and 2050 build conditions). It was determined this alternative would meet the need of improving current design standards; however, it would not meet the needs of safety or improving system continuity and driver expectations.
2050 No Build Frontage Road Volumes
2050 Build Frontage Road Without Crossovers Volumes - Improving system continuity and driver expectations. This alternative would not improve system continuity due to the continued indirect manner in which the traffic would need to travel to access between SR 0001 and PA 413, or access between SR 0001 and Old Lincoln Highway and Highland Avenue. Additionally, this alternative would not improve driver expectations because the expectation for SR 0001 in this area would be to have interchanges providing access between major crossing arterials.
- Existing roadway configurations and traffic conditions contribute to safety concerns in the project area. The alternative does not meet the safety need because the post construction design is very similar to the existing although it does remove the potential crash clusters at the intermediate crossovers. Additionally, per the local EMS feedback, the alternative would potentially excessively increase EMS response times because they would not be able to access SR 0001 by crossing over the concrete islands since there would be proposed concrete median barrier separating the service roads from SR 0001.
For those reasons, coupled with the public’s concerns, this alternative was dismissed from further study.
The detailed traffic analysis can be found in the U.S. 1 Frontage Road Traffic Assessment Technical Memorandum, dated July 2012, located in the project technical file.
Will additional travel lanes be added to PA 413 (Pine Street) north of Flowers Avenue?
This project will not widen PA 413 (Pine Street) north of Flowers Avenue. Additionally, PennDOT does not have any plans for the future widening of PA 413 (Pine Street) through Langhorne Borough.
Will the project increase traffic on PA 413 (Pine Street) north of Gillam Avenue?
The project will not significantly increase traffic on PA 413 north of Gillam Avenue. It is anticipated that some traffic will redistribute between the existing PA 213 (Maple Avenue) interchange and the proposed PA 413 (Pine Street) interchange.
However, since there are already connections between U.S. 1 and PA 413 via Bellevue Avenue and Gillam Avenue in the area of the proposed interchange, traffic is not expected to increase significantly based on the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Regional Travel Model and PennDOT traffic analysis.
Will the RC3 project increase traffic on Gillam Avenue in Langhorne?
Overall, the RC3 project will result in minor increases in traffic on Langhorne Manor’s Gillam Avenue. It is anticipated that traffic will redistribute along Gillam Avenue at each intersection based on driver destinations.
Based on updated PennDOT traffic analysis completed in 2024, AM peak hour traffic is projected to see a 29% increase, which is an average increase of 50 vehicles per intersection for the nine (9) intersections studied along Gillam Avenue, and the PM peak hour is anticipated to see a 17% increase, which is an average increase of 35 vehicles per intersection for the nine (9) intersections studied along Gillam Avenue.
Almost all of this increase is expected to be east of the intersection with West Interchange Road, with the largest increase occurring at the intersection with Pine Street due to the new interchange. It is expected that the increase will be mostly local traffic that previously used the frontage road, now traveling to the newly constructed interchange.
Operationally, the most affected stop-controlled intersections are projected to still operate with minimal delay. At the same time, the internal neighborhood roads will see a decrease in cut-through traffic as traffic is redistributed onto the collector and arterial roads. PennDOT is also investigating additional traffic-calming treatment options along Gillam Avenue.
Will the RC3 project increase truck traffic through Langhorne Borough?
The RC3 project will not significantly increase truck traffic through Langhorne Borough. It is anticipated that some truck traffic that currently utilizes the existing PA 213 (Maple Avenue) interchange to travel north on PA 413 (Pine Street) will redistribute to the proposed PA 413 (Pine Street) interchange. This would allow the trucks to avoid making tight right turns at the intersection of PA 413 (Pine Street) and PA 213 (Maple Avenue) and allow a straight-through movement. These projections are based on the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Regional Travel Model and PennDOT traffic analysis.
Has PennDOT performed traffic counts for the PA 213 (Maple Avenue) / PA 413 (Pine Street) intersection, and what was the truck volume?
PennDOT’s traffic count data from February 2024 showed 8 Heavy Trucks and 104 buses/single unit trucks (or 112 total trucks/buses) in the morning peak hour and 6 Heavy Trucks and 49 buses/single unit trucks (or 55 total trucks/buses) in the afternoon peak hour.
PennDOT’s online traffic count data from 2024 indicates 3% truck traffic and 511 total trucks and buses along PA 413 (Pine Street) north of the intersection, and 12% truck traffic and 1522 total trucks and buses along PA 413 (Pine Street) south of the intersection.
When did PennDOT last perform traffic counts and analysis for this project?
As part of the Environmental Assessment, PennDOT conducted new wholesale traffic counts of the entire project area and surrounding roadways in winter 2024 to ensure as accurate an assessment as possible of the existing traffic conditions along the entire project corridor. PennDOT then updated and re-calculated all of the traffic analysis for the project in a report dated October 2024. PennDOT has continued to incorporate additional traffic data and update its analysis and report, with newer versions dated February 2025 and most recently September 2025. The current version can be found at the following link, Traffic and Safety Analysis Report.