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Politics & Government

Tatamy Traffic Signal Replaced in Preparation for Interchange Project

The blinking red light in Tatamy will go out later this year.

The age of the blinking red traffic light in Tatamy is coming to an end.

A new multi- signal traffic light was installed recently at the intersection of Main and Eighth streets. However, it hasn’t been turned on yet and Tatamy Council President Christopher Moren doesn’t know when it will be.

Another traffic signal is scheduled to go up at the intersection of Mill Race Drive and Commerce Lane, Moren said. A third traffic light will be installed at the intersection of Uhler Road and Bushkill Drive in Forks Township.

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The new lights are being installed in preparation for commercial development once an interchange that would connect Route 33 and Main Street in Tatamy is constructed, according to Tatamy Mayor Luke Duignam.

Charles Chrin Companies owns the industrial park where Porsche Logistics Services LLC is located. Town officials expect the land will be developed faster once the interchange is completed, he said.

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“It’s going to be interesting to see what the traffic flow is like," Duignam said.  "That’s a very heavily traveled road. The timing has to be worked out so we don’t have backups.”

Telco Inc. in Reading has been hired by Chrin to install the traffic signals, Moren said.

Duignam expects the lights -- at least the one at Eighth and Main streets -- to be working "later this year."

“There’s a lot of work that has to go on yet," he added.

Sidewalk ramps need to be constructed at the intersection of Eighth and Main, and at Mill Race and Commerce, according to Moren. Commerce is the main entrance into an industrial park owned by Chrin.

Moren does not know if any of the traffic lights will be working before on the bridge connecting Main Street in Tatamy and Uhler Road in Forks Township.

As for the blinking red traffic light at Eighth and Main, it will have a new home in Tatamy’s Historical Society.

“The blinking light is a Tatamy icon,” Moren said.

Deanne Werkheiser, secretary for the Tatamy Borough Council, said the light has been in place for as long as she can remember, and that’s at least 40 years, she reluctantly admitted.

“It’s been here for so long that it’s going to be sad to see us progress to the next level,” Werkheiser said. “But it will probably be a benefit for our town.”

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