Drivers along Route 443 in Mahoning Township need to be alert for changes in traffic patterns beginning today as crews work to widen the highway in anticipation of a Wal-Mart Supercenter being built near Troxell Road.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation advises drivers that there will be lane restrictions with flagging for work and roadway widening. Work will be done from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and work is expected to wrap up by Aug. 31, according to PennDOT.
Passers-by have probably noticed the veritable mountain rising on the construction site on the north side of Route 443 where the 203,000-square-foot supercenter is being built. The plans call for Route 443 to be widened to add a deceleration lane and changing Troxell's Road.
Township supervisors accepted Wal-Mart's proposal to build the supercenter in Oct. 2006, two years after the company first submitted plans; there followed several years of approval negotiations, planning changes and lawsuits filed by neighbors of the proposed store.
The retail giant now has 87 supercenters, 39 regular stores, 23 Sam's Club stores and four distribution centers in the state, according to it's Web site. Supercenters average 186,000 square feet and carry about 142,000 items, including groceries. Wal-Mart's regular stores average 108,000 square feet and carry about 120,000 items. The site of the new supercenter store is about a half-mile from an existing Wal-Mart on the north side of Route 443, across from the Carbon Plaza.
Other PennDOT projects scheduled to begin in the county include work inspection on Forge Street, between Franklin and Railway streets in Weissport from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
PennDOT crews will also be doing bridge inspection work on westbound Route 209 and Harrity Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 9.
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As if shops in Lehighton weren't struggling enough, I'm sure the addition of a Walmart Supercenter is going to make owning a business virtually impossible. Have you seen the downtown? Its a shell of its former self. What were the township supervisors thinking? Sure its great to have everything in one place and cheap, but why not make efforts to encourage privately owned local businesses? I understand people's need for inexpensive goods and merchandise, but in a way its sad. So many things have been closed-up, boarded-up and left empty. It will draw many people and if you think those people are going to stimulate the local economy, you are wrong. Who would go out of their way to stop at a privately owned business, when you are headed to Walmart for whatever is on your mind? Now, you can stop at McDonalds for your coffee, Dunkin Donuts for your sweet tooth, and Walmart for your anything else on your list. Meanwhile, all the money you just spent is going to line the pockets of the big corporations and not going back into the actual town of Lehighton. The people in Schnecksville were successful in preventing Walmart from building along route 309. I just wish Lehighton would have been successful at preventing the building of this Walmart.