BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The city is heading in another direction in improving circulation along one of its key thoroughfares.
Bethlehem City Council on Tuesday approved local firm Pennoni Associates Inc. to handle preliminary design measures for a two-way conversion along Linden Street, from Fairview Street to Church Street.
The work would begin near Liberty High School, traveling about a ¾-mile south to an intersection just north of Nisky Hill Cemetery.
The contract is valued at $196,575.53. Council also approved a general reimbursement grant agreement to use federally allocated money for the project.
“This two-way conversion will lead to a more accessible and safer corridor as well as provide traffic calming benefits."
Bethlehem Public Works Director Michael Alkhal, on the planned Linden Street two-way conversion project
The work is expected to be done within a year of the official notice to proceed, and final design and construction services agreements will be handled later, according to city Public Works Director Michael Alkhal.
“This two-way conversion will lead to a more accessible and safer corridor as well as provide traffic calming benefits,” Alkhal wrote in a Jan. 28 memo to City Council.
Linden Street travels north through Center City, branching off near Easton Avenue. It then moves northeast to Nazareth Pike near the border with Bethlehem Township.
Bethlehem due for road work
The project is included in the Lehigh Valley’s four-year Transportation Improvement Program.
The TIP outlines $633 million in safety upgrades for some of “the region’s most troublesome intersections and bridges.”
Another TIP-approved program includes rehabilitation measures for the Hill-to-Hill Bridge in Bethlehem, including wider lanes, and better pedestrian and bicycle access for the more-than-a-century-old bridge joining the city's north and south sides.
According to a May 2024 TIP memo from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, the overall plan calls for nearly $300 million in road and rail-crossing projects, about $145 million for bridges and about $188 million for the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority.