Press Release

January 20, 2011

Warwick Township, along with Lititz Borough, was recently awarded $393,254 in “smart transportation” funding by PennDOT – one of only 41 communities statewide whose projects were awarded in the very competitive Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative, or PCTI, which had $24.7 million to disburse. 238 applications were received for a total of $175 million worth of projects. This is the only such project in Lancaster County.

            The funding will be used for design and physical construction costs for an extension of Highlands Drive from its current end-point at Crosswinds Drive (in Warwick Township) north to West 7^th Street (in Lititz Borough) near Weis Markets. The construction will include a six-foot wide mixed-use trail for pedestrians and cyclists, and will allow borough residents to access the commercial center in the southern part of Warwick Township, as well as the Heart of Lancaster Hospital and other amenities – without having to travel on Lititz Pike.

            This section of the road is the final piece in a decade-long effort to provide for an alternative to Lititz Pike for moving into and out of the Borough of Lititz on the southern side of the borough.

This road will permit and promote urban infill development within the Lititz-Warwick Urban Growth Boundary in a region that has long been identified as a “planning area”, or development opportunity, in the Lititz-Warwick Joint Strategic Plan (last updated in 2006). The land surrounding the new road is currently zoned R-3, or medium-density residential with an option for high-density age-qualified (55+) housing. There is also a small section zoned Local Commercial fronting on Lititz Pike.

“Smart Transportation means partnering to build great communities for future generations of Pennsylvanians by linking transportation investments and land-use planning and decision-making,” said PennDOT Secretary Allen D. Biehler, P.E. “The Smart Transportation initiative has made great progress in advancing livability and sustainability goals. 

Local planners believe this effort will significantly improve the livability of this portion of the Warwick-Lititz region by improving connectivity and promoting non-motorized forms of transport on local roads rather than a physically-constrained state highway (Lititz Pike). This will also provide alternative, local access to the businesses on this portion of 501.

For more information on the PCTI program and Smart Transportation, visit the Smart Transportation website at:  www.smart-transportation.com; or contact municipal planner Tony Robalik at 626-8900.