Paoli Train Station Improvements Moving Forward
By Jim Melwert
PAOLI, Pa (CBS) -- A "main" hub on the Main Line, the Paoli train station is one of the busiest in the suburbs, but the outdated station can't handle the volume it sees every day. Now, the first steps are being taken toward improvement.
State and local officials are hoping the headache of getting in and out of the station will change as plans for a transportation center get underway.
"It'll be much more bus accessible, it'll be much more commuter-friendly," says Pennsylvania state representative Warren Kampf. "I personally think, for Paoli, it's going to be a good boost."
The current Paoli station sits at the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and the very narrow North Valley Road; both get gridlocked every morning and evening.
Tredyffrin Township manager Mimi Gleason says the new Paoli Intermodal Transportation Center would sit in an old railyard across from the current station.
"It's going to move across North Valley road in a much bigger area," says Gleason. "It gives us all room to plan how we integrate all the different pieces of transportation. We want to make it much more pedestrian friendly, bike friendly, every way to get here should be much easier when it's all done."
SEPTA has hired a designer for the train station. Tredyffrin Township has hired a consultant for road improvement, not only around the proposed transportation center, but also for the intersection of Route 252 and Route 30, Lancaster Avenue, where an old stone bridge forces traffic into one lane.
There will be community meetings for public input in the fall.
