Route 1 Service Roads To Become Local Streets Under Revised PennDOT Plan

State officials have revised plans for the third and final phase of the multi-year Route 1 reconstruction project and confirmed that nearly all of the existing service roads along the corridor will be kept as local streets.

PennDOT announced late last week an updated proposal for Section RC3. The “design changes include retention of the majority of the existing service roads as local roads.”

As part of the updated plans, the majority of the existing access roads will remain in Langhorne Borough, Langhorne Manor Borough, and Middletown Township. The retained stretches of road will no longer connect directly to the main highway at most of the spots where they currently connect.

As a way to accommodate the change, the service road sections will be detached from Route 1, which will gain a new shoulder.

Existing dividers are set to be removed, and barriers will be installed to divide the highway from the former service lanes.

Municipalities will remain responsible for whatever stays on any of the service roads, according to prior statements from PennDOT.

The change comes after a years-long dispute over the 2.7-mile highway overhaul, which spans from the bridge over the CSX and SEPTA West Trenton Line to just north of the Corn Crib Lane overpass.

A vocal group of residents, largely in Langhorne and Langhorne Manor, has spent years raising concerns on the potential elimination of the service roads. They have also brought forward worries over heightened traffic and noise from the redesigned highway.

PennDOT officials said the revisions stem from feedback submitted during the project’s Environmental Assessment process.

State Sen. Frank Farry and State Rep. Joe Hogan, both Republicans, sent a letter to state transportation officials in the spring inquiring whether the service roads could be kept.

In a response to the lawmakers, PennDOT District 6 Executive Din Abazi explained that engineers had initially recommended selectively removing the service roads to curb speeding and reduce recurring maintenance expenses.

State and municipal officials have held discussions in recent months regarding the retention of the roads.

The updated plans have several previously proposed features, including a new signalized interchange at Pine Street (Route 413); roundabouts at Gillam and Bellevue avenues, as well as at Pine Street, West Highland Avenue, and Bellevue Avenue; on and off-ramps accompanied by roundabouts at Old Lincoln Highway and Highland Avenue; and a new driveway for Neshaminy High School that is positioned closer to the stadium and tied directly into a roundabout.

The updates were met with criticism by some after they were released.

The No Cloverleaf Coalition, a local opposition group that has long challenged the RC3 plan, slammed the project revisions in a statement.

“These half-measures … are lipstick on what still is a pig of a project. Drive times will be lengthened by unconnected service roads, traffic and hazards will be increased on under-engineered and inadequate neighborhood roads, and accidents will increase – by PennDOT’s own admission – at the cloverleaf traffic signals. Instead of prioritizing the safety of our community, PennDOT and its legislative enablers are insisting on spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a flawed project that is endangering pedestrians, motorists, historic structures and the very quality of life of our communities.

“Safety improvements to US1 can be incorporated without increasing dangers in the surrounding neighborhoods. Instead, they have shunned and misconstrued public feedback to implement band-aids that will be useless against the havoc that this project will wreak.”

Langhorne Manor Borough Councilmember Dan Nicastro voiced frustration over how the decision unfolded and the resulting road configuration.

“It is difficult to be happy with this change when it was carried out in such a haphazard manner,” he said.

“Service roads with no access to Route 1 removes the ability for EMS to access Langhorne Manor quickly in the event of an emergency. No access reduces none of the alleged safety concerns other officials claim to have, because the roads are only separated from the highway, with no additional protective barriers in place on the outer portion of the existing service lanes. No access means local small businesses in our neighboring municipalities losing customers because an arbitrary obstacle has been put in place that will funnel traffic onto local roads instead. No access means in the event of a severe accident on the highway, drivers are trapped, waiting endlessly for wreckage to be removed and traffic to flow,” he added.

The overall project is to replace aging infrastructure and enhance traffic safety through the area.

The first phases of the highway expansion in Bensalem and Middletown townships are largely complete.

PennDOT said that design details on the project website have been updated.

The state expects an environmental determination in the fall of 2026, when the final National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) decision and an updated Environmental Assessment file will be posted online.

Construction on Section RC3 could start as early as 2029, according to PennDOT.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated and a follow up will be posted tomorrow.