At the Men's Warehouse store at the Lincoln Plaza in Middletown recently, Manager Jessica Lopez was busy helping customers suit up for social outings this spring and summer.
"We're at our peak," she said about the wedding and prom season. But as she spoke, construction work went on next door where a new Ulta store was almost ready to open. Lopez said she was thrilled Ulta, moving from another shopping center around the corner on Oxford Valley Road, was coming into Lincoln Plaza. There's also a lot of excitement for what is expected to be an Amazon Fresh grocery store coming soon.
More:PennDOT plans to overhaul Route 1, widen section of Route 413
"It definitely will bring more traffic," Lopez said. "Absolutely."
She was talking about foot traffic, meaning more shoppers, but the same sentiment could apply to the number of motorists on Lincoln Highway, also known as Route 1, where the center is located, as well as intersecting streets along its route from the Philadelphia-Bensalem line up to Morrisville.
"It's a very busy time, coming out of the pandemic," said Middletown Building and Zoning Director Jim Ennis. And Middletown is a very busy place to be in Lower Bucks. "It's a centralized hub for this region and has a very diverse mix of development. It's an exciting town to work in."
Not only are new businesses coming to the area, but new road improvements are also planned for the busy corridor that includes a mix of commercial, residential, recreation and warehouse uses along its stretch.
According to data that the Goldenberg Group posts about its Court at Oxford Valley on nearby Oxford Valley Road in neighboring Falls, within a five-mile radius of the shopping center, almost 200,000 people live in more than 77,000 households with average incomes of almost $125,000. And 162,000 workers are employed here.
Route 1 project set for Penndel this summer
Starting in Penndel, to the south of Middletown, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will begin work this summer to widen and add left turn lanes on Business Route 1 where it intersects with Hulmeville Avenue. And it plans a future project to realign intersections and traffic signals to improve the sight visibility where the busy highway curves near its intersections with routes 413 and 513, also in the borough.
"These projects are safety improvement projects at these challenging intersections ... where we see there are high crash rates. We're also improving access at these intersections for pedestrians and bicyclists too ... When you get these auxiliary lanes, it does improve the main line traffic so you're not waiting for motorists to turn right tor left," said PennDOT spokesman Brad Rudolph.
Wawa, another Chick-fil-A and more coming to Middletown stretch of Route 1
Farther up Route 1, construction is about to begin on 614 apartments expected to be built at Oxford Valley Mall and new stores and restaurants are planned for shopping centers along the highway, including a Wawa store at 638 E. Lincoln Highway in Middletown, across the highway from Denny's, and a Chick-fil-A at 1501 E. Lincoln in the same shopping center as Floor & Decor and near the Starbucks.
A Popeye's restaurant is in the works at 1791 E. Lincoln in a former restaurant site near Sam's Club. At 2029 Lincoln Highway, near Woodbourne Road, a plan is before the Middletown planners for the Langhorne Speedway Diner to be demolished to make room for both a Panda Express and another as yet unnamed restaurant. Both are expected to be drive-through eateries, said Ennis in an interview earlier this month.
The owner of the diner, which has been on Route 1 under various names for decades, did not return requests for comment on the plan.
Woodbourne Road, which intersects Route 1 on the south side of the mall, carries about 20,000 vehicles a day across this intersection. PennDot plans to resurface the roadway and the intersection of Woodbourne and Langhorne-Yardley roads will also get improvements to prevent traffic from backing up there.
"Traffic is always an issue in Lower Bucks. There's a lot of people, cars, warehouses and trucks," said Richard Brahler, transportation planner with the Bucks County Planning Commission.
More:Will fans flock to a second Chick-fil-A in Middletown?
More:Oxford Valley Mall housing complex construction could start soon
Old Bally's site could be redeveloped near Oxford Valley Mall
Redevelopment could also be coming to the long-empty site of the former Bally's gym that sits between the Oxford Valley Mall and Route 1. A developer wants to construct three buildings there, including a restaurant and retail store and another retail store with a drive-through restaurant. Plans for the site are still in development.
Ennis, who started his position six months ago, is pleased that "there's still that much potential and interest in developing this area. It's clearly a desirable area to establish a business," he said, and the addition of the 600-plus apartments will definitely entice more business to the mall area.
The Route 1 corridor draws more than just commercial businesses. It's location, with easy access to major highways including Interstates 95 and 295 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, make it a draw for light industrial and warehouses.
Warehouse plan considered at Reedman-Toll on Route 1
Ennis said that on portions of the Reedman-Toll dealership property on both sides of Route 213 which intersects Business Route 1, warehouses may be built as a proposal is now before the Middletown planners. The plan has been in the works for years. "This area, because of the confluence of so many highways allows for shipping and receiving businesses to want to be located here," Ennis said.
The plan by Old Lincoln Industrial Facilities will be reviewed again in July by the township planning board. There are no approvals yet but transportation improvements are included in the proposal, Ennis said.
Overhaul of Middletown M monument intersection at Route 1 and Oxford Valley Road planned
PennDOT has its own plans for the corridor.
Each year, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission works with county planners and with the PennsDOT to map out and schedule a four-year Transportation Improvement Program for Southeastern Pennsylvania.
For the fiscal years 2023-2026, the DVRPC is planning to allocate $241.1 million in federal and state funds for transportation in Bucks County, including projects affecting the Route 1 corridor. Previous years' funds now are being used for projects already scheduled.
North of the mall, PennDOT plans major improvements on Oxford Valley Road, a major artery that brings people to and from busy Route 1, but they're a few years down the road, officials said. The road forms the border between Middletown and both Falls and Lower Makefield townships.
About 23,000 vehicles a day cross Oxford Valley Road on the south side of Business Route 1 before it splits into North Oxford Valley and Bristol-Oxford Valley roads, where a busy Wawa is located. Major improvements to this part of the roadway are planned in the next couple of years.
"They're going to realign Bristol Oxford Valley Road as it intersects North Oxford Valley Road and it will form a signalized intersection across from the Oxford Point Shopping Center ... It's a real tough intersection," said PennDOT spokesman Brad Rudolph said.
For decades the busy stretch just off the Route 1 and Oxford Valley Road intersection has been controlled by a stop sign that give drivers heading away from the intersection the right of way to make a left into what becomes Bristol-Oxford Valley Road.
From Bristol Oxford Valley traffic merges, without a traffic light, up to intersection of Route 1, causing traffic backups and other congestion at the busy crossroads.
"We're still a couple of years out from this being advertised. They will widen both roadways ... Every approach to that intersection will get a left-turn lane, all four approaches to the intersection, and northbound direction will get a right turn lane."
Rudolph said the project is scheduled to be advertised in 2024, with work expected to be completed in 2026. Safety issues are PennDOT's top priority, he said.
The section of Oxford Valley Road north of Route 1 forms an interchange to the Route 1 Expressway heading to Philadelphia and New York. It handles about 31,000 vehicle crossings a day in the busy summer months.
But despite the amount of traffic this section of Oxford Valley Road handles — including many tourists and visitors to Sesame Place and the mall who came off the expressway — plans to address rutting and potholes along this segment of the road will have to wait a little longer because the roadway is mostly made of concrete.
"This happens to be concrete, so it's not your typical paving asphalt," Rudolph said. "It's a little beyond our budget, which is maintenance, so we need to program a capital project. It's going to take a more comprehensive, bigger budget project. Yes, we are looking to program something but I can't tell you when."
Development in the Route 1 corridor extends into Falls
Development doesn't end on Route 1 at the Middletown border.
In the Court at Oxford Valley off Oxford Valley Road in Falls, two new restaurants, Raising Cane's and Mission BBQ, plan to open in a restaurant row featuring Outback Steakhouse, Chili's and Taco Bell.
Going north on Route 1 past Oxford Valley Road into Falls, a new Fusion Gym is proposed for the former Mealey's Furniture store at 179 Lincoln Highway and a building at 218 Lincoln Highway is being converted into an auto sales business by Auto Lenders.
Another Wawa with fuel pumps is also under construction at Route 1 and Arleans Avenue in Falls, where the Arosso Pizzeria & Ristorante moved from that corner to a storefront next to Big Lots, where it offers a private banquet room.
In addition to the upcoming projects in the business district, PennDOT is spending $349 million in previous allocations to reconfigure and improve the safety on four-miles of the Route 1 Expressway from Bensalem to Middletown and plans to hold virtual hearings later this year to get more input from residents and business owners about the final phase of that project, which is causing concern to Langhorne residents, who fear that traffic getting off the highway at a partial cloverleaf interchange planned for Route 413 and going north will bottleneck in their town.
More:Langhorne urges PennDOT to halt and review plans
PennDOT will hold three public Zoom meetings later this summer to get input from people about these projects. "We are seeing a huge increase in public interest," Rudolph said. "If you have questions, we can take it offline. We want to clear up misconceptions."
He said the agency website on the Route 1 Expressway project, US1Bucks.com , will also accept questions and comments about the Route 1 Expressway project.
While PennDOT won't be widening the roads around Route 1 even as more commercial businesses open here, Rudolph said the improvements to the intersections to add left turn lanes will by itself improve the flow of traffic on the highway and the main arteries that feed into it, and make the roads safer.
"We are making a lot of intersection improvements," he said.
Residents can also make suggestions or provide other comments about TIP projects, by contacting the DVRPC by 5 p.m. June 28. To comment, visit the DVRPC Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=337890681807899&set=a.181341837462785.
)
