January 2011

Dear Neighbor:
Please join or renew your membership in the Civic Association for the new year.  2011 promises to  offer more significant challenges to the Civic Association than 2010.

Ardmore Avenue/Rite Aid.  Reconfiguration of the Ardmore Avenue-Lancaster Avenue intersection is complete and a small park with a fountain has been installed in front of the Bryn Mawr Trust Building.  Rite Aid wishes to construct a drive-through pharmacy across Ardmore Avenue on the newly cleared southwest corner next to the IHOP, demolishing the Arrow Car Wash and presumably closing its Ardmore West facility.  Hearings are under way before the Township Zoning Hearing Board concerning a number of very substantial zoning variances sought by Rite Aid.  The proposed one-way access off Lancaster Avenue raises serious traffic issues.  We are disappointed at this proposed use of a site that was cleared at Township expense and is subject to the MUST ordinance, and we see no reason to support the requested variances.  

The Exxon Station on Woodside Road and Montgomery Avenue wants to turn its service bays into a convenience store.  We earlier opposed a proposed car wash and expanded convienience store at that location.

Anderson Avenue Underpass.  Anderson Avenue was closed for two weeks in December for the first stage of a two-stage project designed to clean up this underpass and make it more attractive for pedestrians.  Mold has been removed, water no longer drips onto pedestrians from the tracks above, the sidewalks have been fixed, supports have been primed, and a strike bar has been installed to prevent trucks over the height limit from getting stuck.  Cosmetic improvements will now be installed, including signage and LED lights that can change colors to suit different moods.  The additional work will take 3 months and result in occasional short-term closings of Anderson Avenue.  As residents discovered in December, Church Road is not a satisfactory alternative route.  Woodside and Penn Roads work better.

Ardmore Transit Center Project.  Up to now this project has envisaged a new train station, an 8-level, 500-space parking garage structure, and a 7-story 109-residence apartment building with retail space on the ground floor, all to be built along the tracks where the present Ardmore station, SEPTA parking lot, and Township parking lots are located.  Carl Dranoff has an exclusive development contract with the Township to build it.  The transit-related piece of this project has been budgeted at $44.8 million; however, public money now committed falls far short (by $20 million or so) and the new administration in Harrisburg and the new Congress in Washington are unlikely to provide further funds.  The Township will  present a status report on February 2 (which we hope will be after this newsletter reaches you); this will be the first status report to the public since last May.  Site constraints are severe and have occasioned protracted negotiations with Amtrak in trying to squeeze large structures on to the site.  Amenities of the project keep being discarded as too expensive or impractical – no pedestrian bridge, probably no new pedestrian connection of any kind to Suburban Square.  The potential traffic impact on Anderson Avenue and surrounding streets of this project, should it ever be built, remains of serious concern.   

High School.  Demolition of the old high school is almost complete.  The next step includes construction of new parking lots for staff, students and buses.  Plans for the new configuration of the site may be seen at http://www.lmsd.org/documents/hsm/lmhs_designs.pdf.  The School District has discovered that it can house more buses off Matsonford Road than it had previously thought, so that LMHS will be housing only 24 buses, and a hunt for another off-site storage area will not be necessary.

Area Safety.  Break-ins into cars and houses seem to be increasing in Lower Merion Township.  Our neighborhoods continue to be relatively safe.  There was recently an alarming incident of attempted sexual assaults by a man on a bicycle on Montgomery Avenue and again on Sabine Avenue.  Vigilance is always advised.  Learn about subscribing to police alerts via nixle.com at our website, www. northardmorecivic.org.  These alerts are unfortunately not very timely, but they do provide area-specific information.