Work to upgrade a busy intersection in New Hanover is expected to begin on Monday when crews set up long-term traffic control signals. Expansion of the southern intersection of Routes 663 and 73 is expected to be completed by the end of September at no cost to township taxpayers, according to Manager Jamie Gwynn.

            Municipal officials will utilize two Commonwealth grants and developer traffic fees to fund the enhancements, which includes the addition of a left-turn lane and the installation of a traffic light at the intersection next to Saldutti Car Corner.

            Traffic will not be detoured, according to the manager. He said the construction schedule will allow commuters to drive through the intersection with the assistance of strategically placed flaggers.

            Marino Corporation – a Skippack company and the only firm to bid for the project – will be paid just under $750,000 to complete the work, which includes the reprofiling of a hill to improve sight distance.  Municipal officials have acquired two Multimodal Transportation grants through the Department of Community and Economic Development ($377,606) and the Department of Transportation ($125,394). The balance will be funding by fees collected by developers, according to the manager.

            Meanwhile, improvements to the southern intersection of Routes 73 and 663 – near the entrance to Hickory Park – remain on hold. Last year, Gwynn said that work could include access to an adjacent 215-acre parcel known as the Marinari Tract, where Heritage had proposed constructing a 412-unit active retirement community known as Hanover Meadows.

            A plan to improve traffic at both intersections first took shape in the early 2000s, as township officials were hoping to utilize impact fees from a Bucks County developer looking to construct a retirement community, a shopping center and a residential community.

            In October of 2008, the township's Board of Supervisors granted final plan approval for the construction of the Crossing at New Hanover, a shopping center on 38.2 acres near the intersection of Routes 663 and 73. The language of the agreement required the developer – Heritage Building Group, LLC of Jamison – to pay the township $921,258 in impact and traffic fees, according to information posted by the company at slideshare.net.

            Municipal officials had been working to tie the funding of both intersections to all three projects, according to Ed Wagner, New Hanover's former manager. However, the housing market collapse in the fall of 2008 stopped all three projects, which has been in the legislative pipeline for several years.