Transportation networks and circulation patterns play an important role in the Borough’s future planning process.  The transportation network must be maintained so that it functions effectively and respects the urban character of the Borough.  Policies relating to transportation and circulation in West Chester are found in Section III, Plan Recommendations.  A history of transportation in West Chester Borough is included in the Appendices. 

Existing Conditions

Transportation networks through and around West Chester Borough have been established in part because of commuting requirements resulting from residential and employment center development in surrounding townships. Several state routes not originally intended for heavy commuter traffic have recently evolved into arterial roadways. Additionally, the Borough offers a variety of employment, education and entertainment options that attract visitors.  The Borough’s amenities, its location and juxtaposition in the regional highway network contribute to a significant increase in congestion on many Borough streets at peak travel hours.

West Chester is less than twenty (20) miles from Wilmington, Delaware and about twenty-five (25) miles from Philadelphia. It is situated in eastern Chester County and several major roadways converge in the Borough as shown on Map 1. The traffic network consists of a series of major roads in the Borough and the surrounding area.  A few smaller roads cross through the West Chester region, but do not pass through the Borough.  Route 3 (West Chester Pike) originates in West Chester forming the Gay Street and Market Street east/west one-way pair and moves east to Philadelphia.  U.S. Route 202 runs north/south along the eastern edge of the Borough and serves as the U.S. Route 322 and Route 100 bypasses around West Chester. Route 100 runs generally north/south through the Borough as High Street, Price Street, and Bradford Avenue with a bypass to the east of the Borough along Route 202.  U.S. Route 322 angles across the Borough northwest/southeast with a bypass route around Hannum Avenue, Gay Street/Market Street and High Street.  Route 52 also begins in West Chester at the intersection of High Street and Price Street and runs southwest along Price Street with PA Route 100  and turns south at Bradford Avenue.  PA Route 162 also begins in the Borough at the intersection of Strasburgh Road and Hannum Avenue and heads west to Strasburgh in Lancaster County.  PA Route 842 begins in the Borough at the intersection of High Street and Miner Street, running southwest as Miner Street.  Paoli Pike also begins in West Chester where Gay and Market Streets meet West Chester Pike. Major roads in the region that do not pass through the Borough include Route 926 (Street Road), Route 352, and Boot Road.

The comprehensive plan visioning process provided many opinions and ideas regarding Borough transportation issues.  Residents expressed their desire to decrease traffic on certain routes and calm traffic throughout the Borough.  The business community wishes to ensure sufficient parking and access to key shopping areas.  Other comments from the visioning process were:

·     Encourage alternate traffic routes for trucks.

·     Lane changes throughout the Borough are inconsistent and not well marked.

·     Pavement marking maintenance should be improved.

·     Provide validated parking for shoppers in the downtown business district.

·     Parking garage fees may be too expensive for non-profit agency clients.

·     Off-street parking is unavailable in the southeast section of the Borough.

·     Public bus service should include late night returns.

·     Create a downtown pedestrian zone.

·     Explore the reinstatement of the “Run-A-Round” shuttle.

·     Additional bus service should be considered for the Great Valley Corporate Center and Paoli.

·     Street signs are in poor repair.

·     Provide signage to locate important features throughout the Borough. 

·     Provide a way finding kiosk in the Central Business District to assist visitors and shoppers.

Traffic Studies

Several traffic studies have been prepared for the Borough that concern various transportation-related issues and problems.  They are discussed in detail below.

Huth Engineers, 1988

The first traffic study, conducted in 1988 by Huth Engineers described major components of the Borough’s transportation network and defined required improvements to enable the network to function more efficiently. This study indicates that the High Street intersections with Gay, Price, Marshall, Miner and Linden Streets will have level of service (LOS) grades of “F” or “F-” for the year 2010 with an improved network. LOS is expressed using the letters “A” through “F”.  Designation “A” is considered to be the best possible driving situation in which drivers move freely and generally unimpeded by other vehicles.  As the LOS moves toward “F” driving becomes more difficult.  It becomes necessary to move at the same speed as other vehicles, and maneuverability is limited.  At LOS “F”, traffic volumes become too large for the road capacity or intersection.  Traffic volumes at LOS “F” are extremely heavy and long backups, gridlock, and delays are common. Generally, roads and intersections are designed to handle volumes at a LOS “C” in rural conditions and LOS “D” in developed areas.

The LOS at these intersections may be improved through the completion of West Chester Borough’s and West Goshen Township’s “closed loop” traffic signal system coordination project. This project installs fiber optic cables and a computer system to coordinate the timing of signals along the High Street Corridor in the Borough and on key routes outside the Borough, such as Paoli Pike and Route 3.  This project will increase the efficiency of signal timing and maximize the capacity of existing roadways.

 Huth Engineers’ traffic study provides the following summary suggestions for Borough intersections and circulation improvements:

·     Make High Street one-way northbound from Price to Marshall; Pair with Church Street

·     Make Marshall Street one-way westbound from High to Church Street

·     Make Wayne Street one-way northbound from Gay to Washington Street

·     Make Brandywine Street one-way southbound from Chestnut to Gay Street

·     Extend Chestnut Street’s one-way restriction to Brandywine Street

·     Make Adams Street one-way southbound from Market to Union Street

·     Make Bolmar Street one-way northbound from Union to Market Street.

Amman and Whitney, 1998

The second study was also prepared in 1998 by Amman and Whitney and provided background data for the traffic signalization project.  The Amman and Whitney report performed traffic volumes to characterize several intersections.  Data regarding existing LOS for major intersections in the Borough is presented in Table 12 and on Map 11.

Table 12:  Level of Service - Major Intersections

West Chester Regional Planning Commission, 1988

The West Chester Regional Planning Commission prepared a “Long Range Transportation Study” in 1988, which inventoried the regional transportation network.  The study made recommendations for minimizing congestion problems, road improvements, trip congestion problems, trip reduction strategies, strategies for maximizing the efficiency of the road network, and a discussion of implementation recommendations.  The study provided maps indicating the PM peak hourly volumes for the year 2010 for High Street, with and without improvements indicated in the study.  In comparing the projected 2010 unimproved and improved network volumes, there is a 3.89% average reduction of the overall expected traffic on High Street by rerouting through traffic around the Borough.  This figure does not account for reductions resulting from the de-designation of Route 100. The reduction of pass-through traffic in the Borough is achieved by improving access to the existing bypasses and by making improvements to bypasses around the Borough.

Typical traffic volume characteristics of the area can be summarized as heavy morning and evening peak hour traffic with reduced volumes during midday and weekends.  Night volumes are much lower, typical of most Central Business District areas.  The area also generates a substantial volume of local residential and commercial traffic throughout the day.  The highest hourly volumes in the 1996 study were found at the intersection of High Street and Market Street with an AM peak of 2,096 vehicles per hour and a PM peak of 2,248 vehicles per hour.  Daily traffic volumes in the Borough necessitate that roads be maintained adequately to ensure safety.

URS Greiner Woodward Clyde, 1999

URS Greiner Woodward Clyde (URSGWC) recently completed a traffic analysis for this planning project.   The URSGWC study and the visioning process identified safety concerns at the intersection of Rosedale Avenue and High Street.  The study suggests increasing the turning radii at this intersection or adding a turning lane to improve safety.  Pennoni Associates is also studying this intersection for improvements as part of the West Chester University Master Planning Process. 

- Tigue Road

Tigue Road was examined by URSGWC for improvements and use as a bypass south of West Chester.  Tigue Road connects Lenape Road (PA 52/dedesignation PA Route 100) with New Street and High Street (Business U.S. Route 322) near the U.S. Route 202/ U.S. Route 322 bypass interchange.  If Tigue Road could be improved and linked to the by-pass East of West Chester, it could relieve congestion on High Street and Bradford Avenue by reducing through volumes.

Improving Tigue Road furthers the completion of a by-pass system around the Borough. It would allow through traffic to access all but two (PA Route 162 & PA Route 842) of the major routes that converge in the Borough without having to actually enter the Borough.  Improving Tigue Road would complete the third of four sides of the beltway around the Borough.  It would allow Route 100 through traffic to use the Exton bypass, U.S. Route 202 and Tigue Road to avoid the current High Street, Price Street, and Bradford Avenue route it currently takes through the Borough.  Traffic from U.S. Route 322, Phoenixville and Paoli could also use this route to avoid entering the Borough to continue south on PA Route 100 or PA Route 52.

URSGWC visited Tigue Road to assess its potential for serving as a bypass.  Tigue Road is a narrow, rolling, reasonably straight roadway from PA Route 52 to New Street.  It then runs through the Robert B. Gordon Natural Area for Environmental Studies from New Street to High Street in the southwest corner of West Goshen Township and West Chester University, South Campus. URSGWC noted that sight distance is severely limited heading west on Tigue Road at New Street.  It is unlikely that Tigue Road could be improved and used as a bypass through the Robert B. Gordon Natural Area due to environmental restrictions.  An alternate route around the Borough already exists.  Motorists and truck traffic could utilize the bypass and Route 926 (Street Road) to get back to Route 100.

- West Market Street Angled Parking

URSGWC also examined the possibility of returning to perpendicular parking in front of shops on West Market Street, between Darlington Street and Church Street.  Currently, W. Market Street has parallel parking on both sides (14 spaces on the north side, 12 on the south side), with a right turn lane to Church Street, and two eastbound through lanes.  Based on DVRPC digital orthophotography, West Market Street is roughly 60 feet wide.

URSGWC reviewed The American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) "Architectural Graphic Standards" and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Publication 201 "Engineering and Traffic Studies" for parking dimensions.  AIA's Parking Dimensions show a travel area of 32 feet for 45-degree angled parking and 48 feet for 90 degree angled parking.  These distances include 16 feet for the parking stall and provide a safe area for cars to maneuver and park without conflicting with the travel lane.  Publication 201 indicates the required elements of a traffic study and criteria to provide new angled parking.  Publication 201 shows maneuver area dimensions of 26 feet for 30-degree angle, 30 feet for 45-degree angle and 43 feet for 90-degree angled parking.

In order to provide sufficient maneuvering and parking area to accommodate angled parking, parallel parking on the other side of W. Market Street might have to be eliminated, resulting in no change in the number of available parking spaces.  Additionally, provision of angled parking may lead to alignment problems for the through lanes.  Consistency is another issue to consider, in that providing angled parking for this block and parallel parking elsewhere may confuse motorists who do not expect cars to back out of the angled spaces.

- De-designation of Certain State Routes

The de-designation of certain state routes in the Borough would place restrictions on direction of travel and vehicle types. The traffic study prepared by URSGWC indicates that PA Route 52 (Price Street) is one area of West Chester Borough that may benefit from such a de-designation.  Residents along Route 52 of this area would generally support such a de-designation.  The study also suggests that Tigue Road, once suggested as a Price Street rerouting option, is not an ideal alternative in part because it passes through the Robert B. Gordon Natural Area.  This area will likely have significant limitations with respect to the amount of allowable construction and re-grading.  

De-designation of Route 100 through the Borough is another option to reduce traffic volumes in by rerouting through traffic.  URS Greiner Woodward Clyde has estimated a possible five per cent (5%) reduction in traffic loads from de-designation, and perhaps an even greater reduction in the volume of long haul trucks.

Alternative Modes of Transportation

Bus Service

It is imperative for West Chester Borough to have adequate public transportation facilities in order to decrease reliance on the automobile for travel.  Currently, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) provides bus service in the Borough on the following routes:

·     Route 9--King of Prussia to the Parkway Shopping Center

·     Route 10--The 69th Street Terminal to West Chester

·     Route 11--Feltonville and Chester to West Chester

·     Route 31--Upper Chichester to Goshen Corporate Park

Krapf Bus Service, Inc. operates Route A, which runs along Route 100 north to the Exton Mall and west along Route 30 to Coatesville.  Bus service is provided seven days a week and pick-ups are hourly.  Ridership has been estimated at approximately 100 people per day.  Krapf Coaches provides bus service to West Chester Borough, which runs to Downingtown and Coatesville.  Within the Borough, the now-defunct “Run-A-Round” was a locally funded shuttle bus service also operated by Krapf’s Transit with stops in the center of West Chester Borough (“the Inner Circuit”) and at local shopping centers (“the Outer Circuit”).  The Run-A-Round was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Greater West Chester and Chester County and provided discounts or waived fares for County employees, senior citizens and West Chester University students.  It eventually became uneconomical and went out of service.

ParaTransit Services

Paratransit services are provided to senior citizen residents of the Borough of West Chester by Krapf Bus Companies, Inc.  This service is privately contracted and operated, but administered through the Chester County Commissioners.  Senior citizens can ride free through funding by the State Lottery and Older Americans Act.

Rail

The SEPTA R-5 line provides train service from Doylestown to Thorndale.  SEPTA is also currently exploring the possibility of an inter-suburban line that would connect West Chester with Media.  Amtrak provides regional train service from Philadelphia to Harrisburg.