Plan the Keystone Blog

Middletown Charrette Follow-Up

As a follow up to the community charrette, the engineering and environmental fatal flaws analysis has been completed for the four candidate Middletown station locations.  Based on the analysis, fatal flaws were found for both the existing (Mill Street) and Lot 29 locations.  No fatal flaws were found for the Ann Street and HIA locations. 

For more information, please read here.

The Plan the Keystone team is continuing additional analysis for the Ann Street and HIA locations.

· Updated cost analysis

· Coordination meetings with Amtrak

· Revised engineering plans

· Coordination meetings with property owners

As part of this process, we also wish to collect additional community input.  What are your thoughts on the Ann Street and HIA station locations?   

Middletown Next Steps

As a follow up, all four locations for the Middletown station that were discussed during the charrette are still under consideration and being advanced.  No decision has been made regarding a station location at HIA or the other three locations.

 

At the charrette in July, concepts that will address ADA requirements and Amtrak guidelines were developed for stations at all four locations.  The summary presentation from the charrette can be found here.  The station plans show the platform configuration as well as locations for parking to serve the station.  Additionally, the station plans show scenarios for new development or redevelopment that can occur around the station.  This potential exists at all four locations, so the goal of the station plans is to show how it could work for each area.

 

Since the charrette, the Plan the Keystone Team has been completing follow-up environmental and engineering analysis work.  Each of the four sites is currently being evaluated for environmental fatal flaws.  The station concepts for each of the four locations are also being evaluated for any engineering fatal flaws that would prohibit construction of a station.  This work will continue through the end of the year, and we will provide status updates periodically.

 

We are continually looking for additional public input prior to any decision regarding the Middletown station.  Any additional discussion regarding the merits of each potential location is welcome, as it will help in the evaluation process. 

Middletown Station Workshop

The Plan the Keystone Team is working this week at the Middletown station workshop being held at the Penn State Harrisburg campus.  We will be here through Thursday evening.  More information about the workshop can be found here.

Tuesday night was the opening presentation for the workshop.  About 35 people came, and they were a mix of Middletown Borough citizens, local business owners, elected officials, and Penn State Harrisburg staff.

Our team gave an overview presentation of the study to date, the four locations under consideration, and what we will be doing this week.

Our main goal for Tuesday evening was to get as many ideas as possible from the public.  First, we asked everyone to participate in a Post-it Note exercise to identify their top values/priorities for a Middletown train station.  Each person was allowed three answers.  Here are the responses we received:

• Free and ample parking (27 people)
• Access and mobility options (18 people)
• Safety and security (15 people)
• Access for Penn State Harrisburg students (11 people)
• Ease of access (10 people)
• Economic development (5 people)
• Good design (5 people)
• Handicap access (2 people)
• Wayfinding (1 person)
• “Green” (1 person) 

 

For our second exercise, the participants worked in small groups to develop a “wish list” of uses and features they would like at the station and in the surrounding area.  Here are some of the items mentioned:

• Post office
• Restaurant/bar/coffee shop
• Restroom
• Advertising/business directories/bus and taxi information
• ADA compliance
• Transportation links: HIA, downtown, Penn State
• Lighting and safety
• Multi-purpose facility (offices, meeting space, performance facility)
• Bakery
• Lottery machine
• Dry cleaners
• Free parking
• Lighted/visible/accessible emergency call boxes
• Multimodal connections: bus, taxis/ bicycle routes, sidewalks
• Covered bicycle parking
• Posted train schedule and directions for using the train
• Real time schedule clock
• Context-sensitive and history-sensitive station design
• Ticket kiosk
• Overflow parking 
• Bike lockers
• Minimize carbon footprint

While some of these features could be at the station itself, others would be in the blocks surrounding the station.  The Plan the Keystone Team will continue working at the Penn State campus through Thursday.  We will use this feedback to develop design concepts for each of the four stations and the surrounding areas.

What do you think?  Do you have additional ideas or opinions on what is important for the train station and the surrounding area?

Welcome!

Welcome to the Plan the Keystone Connect!  We are excited about the planning efforts for the communities along the Amtrak Keystone corridor.  The Plan the Keystone team’s first planning effort is in Middletown, where we are working with the community and PennDOT to identify the location for a redesigned Middletown station.  As we continue our work in Middletown and begin work in other communities along the corridor, we hope this site will serve as a discussion forum for the Keystone corridor and the communities it serves.

 

Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas for the Keystone corridor.  This information will be very useful to the Plan the Keystone team and will help us in our analysis, community outreach, and recommendations.