Fourth Street Extension Project
The Fourth Street Extension officially opened to vehicles on Friday, July 30, 2021. The Borough realized in 2019 that there was a need for traffic improvements due to the tremendous amount of re-development and new development that was occurring in the area of the Borough that is directly west of North Park Road. This included the former Vanity Fair property which has been re-developed and is now called the Knitting Mills. The new Teleflex building on Innovation Way was completed in 2019 and the Drexel University College of Medicine building will welcome its first class of students in mid-August 2021.
The Borough was awarded a $2 million multi-modal transportation grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development in November 2019 for the construction of the Fourth Street Extension. The project included the construction of one roundabout on Innovation Way that connects to Fourth Street. Traffic will continue on Fourth Street to North Wyomissing Boulevard. Oley Street is now a one-way street heading eastbound and Greenwich Street one-way heading westbound.
The Borough also purchased a vacant parking lot located on the southwest side of the intersection of Fourth Street and North Wyomissing Boulevard. A bike rack, striped parking spaces, a bench and a BARTA bus stop are located on this lot. A bike share station will also be installed on the lot.
The final stage of the project called for the installation of route signs and sharrows to identify the Wyomissing and West Reading bicycle and pedestrian route. The route provides access to all areas of the Borough, to multiple recreation areas, to the Wyomissing Area School District and Wilson School District, and to Spring Township, Shillington Borough and West Reading Borough. The route also provides access to two other bike share stations to be installed in West Reading and in the parking lot that is part of the Wyomissing parklands, behind Wawa and adjacent to the quarry soccer fields. The “Bike Route FAQ’s” and map, both available on the Borough’s website, provide more detailed information on the route, signage and bike share stations.
Pedestrian improvements were made to Fourth Street to install sidewalk where there are currently missing connections to allow unimpeded travel from the Knitting Mills to North Wyomissing Boulevard.
PennDOT recently finished repaving and striping of North Wyomissing Boulevard, including installing dedicated turning lanes, lane striping and traffic signal upgrades. This will allow traffic traveling to and from Route 422 easier and safer access to Innovation Way and the Knitting Mills.
A post-construction traffic study will be performed by the Borough within the next year to identify the need to retime traffic signals on the North Park Road corridor to allow for better traffic flow. Traffic signals located along North Park Road, Penn Avenue and Hill Avenue will be retimed as recommended by the study.
