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The West End Voice

 Liberty
Volume 14 No. 1 ©  May 9, 2005


Brodheadsville's Rt. 209 Traffic Bottleneck Can and Must Be Fixed

By J.J. Publius

 Chuck Gould and his Chestnuthill Supervisors have failed to fix the Brodheadsville traffic jam for 12 years. It's time for a change!


The Brodheadsville Bottleneck

Have you ever driven through Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania along Route 209 from about 7:00 a.m. to about 7:00 p.m.? If so, you likely have had the horrible experience of the infamous Brodheadsville Bottleneck and traffic jams in Chestnuthill Township.

The peak Brodheadsville Bottleneck periods during the week are from about 10:00 a.m. to about 6:00 p.m. And when it comes to Saturday morning and midday, forget it. You don't want to be there.

If you have to run the Brodheadsville Bottleneck gauntlet, you know it is wasting your valuable time, wasting your gas (and thus your gas money), and subjecting you to the polluting exhaust fumes from the other vehicles stuck in the same Brodheadsville Bottleneck.

Route 209 through Brodheadsville is an old, narrow, two-lane state highway. Westbound, it's also the gateway to the West End of Monroe County. (See Figure 1, below.)

That means that much of the Westbound traffic on 209 through downtown Brodheadsville is not headed for downtown Brodheadsville. Rather much of that traffic is heading for the residential areas of Chestnuthill, Eldred, and Polk Townships, for the Weir Lake shopping area (Kinsley's Shoprite, Mr Z's, the old Ames Plaza), and for the villages of Effort, Gilbert, Jonas, Kresgeville, Kunkletown, Mt. Effort, and so forth.

Eastbound, the Brodheadsville Bottleneck is the place where West End traffic funnels together in order to exit the West End  to get to major freeways such as Rt 80 and Rt 33 -- or to the major shopping areas in Stroud Township along Rt 611, in Stroudsburg, and in East Stroudsburg.

The Brodheadsville Bottleneck has been around for years. And it is getting worse every year. Yet, so far the Chestnuthill Township Supervisors have not solved the problem. See why in the Gould Fails to Solve Rt. 209 Traffic Jams column up and to the right on this page.

The actual bottleneck is the section of Route 209 from its intersection with Route 715 (at the WaWa) to the Y intersection of Routes 209 and 115 (at the Rite Aid pharmacy). See Figure 1, below.

The key to solving the Brodheadsville Bottleneck traffic jam problem is moving traffic around the Brodheadsville Bottleneck gauntlet rather than through it. See how to do that in the Easy Solutions for Chestnuthill Traffic Jams column to the right on this page.



The Frantz Road Bypass

We do not need a four-lane freeway through the West End in order to bypass the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. An existing road, Frantz Road, can be used and should be used to re-route 209 traffic around the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. The Frantz Road bypass is the green colored East-West road that parallels Route 209 in Figure 2, below.

Traveling Westward towards downtown Brodheadsville, you can get onto Frantz Road by turning left onto Frable Road (just before the Meadowbrook Diner) and then making the right turn on to Frantz Road.

Then you can get back onto Route 209 via Dairy Lane (Carpet Barn),  Rodenbach Lane (Wachovia Bank), Weir Lake Road (Mr. Z's), County Park Road (Fair Grounds), or Gilbert Road (Gilbert traffic light). Actually, after Weir Lake Road, Frantz Road gets renamed to Stage Coach Road and then to Mountain View Drive in PolK Township.

You also can use Dairy Lane,  Rodenbach Lane, Weir Lake Road, County Park Road , or Gilbert Road to get on to the Frantz Road bypass. These roads are the blue-green colored roads connecting Route 209 to Frantz Road in Figure 2, below.

What's so neat is that the Frantz Road bypass already is in place. If you know about it, you can bypass the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. Unfortunately many people are not aware of the Frantz Road bypass.

Directional road signs should be placed at the appropriate places along Route 209 to direct Route 209 traffic to the Frantz Road bypass. And directional road signs should be placed at the appropriate places along Frantz Road to direct Frantz Road traffic to Route 209.

That does not mean that there should not be some improvements made to Frantz Road in order to make it more attractive as a Brodheadsville Bottleneck bypass. Frantz Road should be widened some now. The shoulders should be improved and widened now, too.

Looking to the future, easements and right of ways should be obtained to add left turn and right turn lanes on Frantz Road. Then as bypass traffic increases left and right turn lanes can be added as needed.

These easements and right of ways should be obtained now. At this time there is not very much construction close to Frantz Road. That should make obtaining such easements and rights of way easy -- compared to the problems that could arise if there is additional construction close to Frantz Road in the future.

Looking further into the future, sufficient easements and rights of way should be obtained now so that eventually Frantz Road can be developed into a four-lane avenue or boulevard to accommodate potential future bypass traffic.


The Silver Valley and Lake Mineola Shortcuts

Many of the motor vehicles traveling through downtown Brodheadsville are Route 715 traffic heading to or from the Stroudsburgs, Route 33, or Route 80. Such 715 traffic does not need to be compounding the Brodheadsville Bottleneck problems. Nor do the people in those vehicles have any desire to be sucked into the Brodheadsville Bottleneck and its associated traffic jams.

Lake Mineola Road, Silver Valley Road, and Cottontail Lane can be used to provide shortcuts that allow 715 traffic to avoid the Brodheadsville Bottleneck problems. Moreover, diverting such 715 traffic from Route 715 and Route 209 intersection cuts down on the traffic involved in the Brodheadsville Bottleneck, thus easing the traffic load in the bottleneck.

The Silver Valley shortcut goes from Silver Valley Road's intersection with 209 (Kustom Automotive) then to Route 715 via Cottontail Lane. It's the longer green colored path from 209 to 715 in Figure 2, below.

The Silver Valley and Cottontail shortcut is ready to use right now. Directional road signs should be placed at the appropriate places along Route 209 to direct Route 209 traffic to the Silver Valley shortcut. And directional road signs should be placed at the appropriate places along 715 and Cottontail Lane to direct 715 traffic to Route 209 via the Silver Valley shortcut.

In order to make the Silver Valley shortcut more attractive as a Brodheadsville Bottleneck bypass, Silver Valley Road and Cottontail Lane should be widened some now. The shoulders should be improved and widened now, too.

Conceptually and functionally the Lake Mineola Road shortcut is very similar to the Silver Valley shortcut. However, it goes from the intersection of Lake Mineola Road with Route 209 (ESSA Bank) to the intersection of Lake Mineola Road with 715 (Chestnuthill Township Building). It's the shorter green colored path from 209 to 715 in Figure 2, below.

Unlike the Silver Valley shortcut, the Lake Mineola shortcut is not ready to go. It needs immediate re-paving.

If you want to see an example of just how horribly some of the Chestnuthill Township roads are being maintained, take a ride on Lake Mineola Road. When you see the miserable condition of Lake Mineola Road,  you will understand one of the reasons that we believe Chuck Gould and the Chestnuthill Supervisors are not doing their jobs and should be fired.
Gould and His Chestnuthill Supervisors Failed to Solve Rt. 209 Traffic Jams

On and off, Chuck Gould has been a Chestnuthill Township Supervisor for nearly 12 years. During much of that time, he has been and is now the Chairman of the Chestnuthill Township Board of Supervisors.

Gould has had nearly 12 years as a Chestnuthill Township Supervisor to get the  Brodheadsville Bottleneck fixed. He has not done so. When it comes to the Brodheadsville Bottleneck and Chestnuthill Township traffic problems, Gould has failed for nearly 12 years to fix the traffic problems!

When asked about this at a recent Chestnuthill Township meeting, Gould tried to blame it on the State. Rather than set forth any positive plan or action that Chestnuthill Township would implement to solve the Brodheadsville Bottleneck,  Gould  put it  off on the  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania saying merely  that the State is studying  the problem.

The State has had forty years or more to do something about the Brodheadsville Bottleneck,  but has done nothing. Moreover, even if the State does decide to do something, the way those clowns operate it likely would be five to ten years, or more, before anything actually would be done.

Meanwhile there are lots of things Chestnuthill Township could and should do to alleviate the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. (See Figure 2, below.) But in Chuck  Gould's 12 years as a Chestnuthill Supervisor nothing has yet been put in place to do that.

It's time to get the  Brodheadsville Bottleneck  fixed.  It's time for a change!

The Democrat and Republican voters of Chestnuthill Township can make the change and get things started to fix the  Brodheadsville Bottleneck  and traffic problems.  It's simple. It's time for a change! Just simply  vote against  Gould in the May 17, 2005  Primary Election.


Easy Solutions for Chestnuthill Traffic Jams

  • What you can do.
Even without any actions by Gould and the other Chestnuthill Township Supervisors, you can help yourself. Just  create your own bypass around the Brodheadsville Bottleneck.

If you are driving to or from Eldred, and Polk Townships, the Weir Lake shopping area (Kinsley's Shoprite, Mr Z's, the old Ames Plaza), or the villages of Gilbert, Kresgeville, Kunkletown, and so forth use Frantz Road to bypass the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. That's the green colored road to the South of  Route 209 in Figure 2, below.

Are you a route 715 traveler? If so, you can use the Silver Valley or Lake Mineola shortcuts to bypass the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. They are the green colored roads to the North of Route 209 that connect Route 715 to Route 209 in Figure 2, below .

For more information about the Frantz Road bypass and the Silver Valley and Lake Mineola shortcuts check the sections about them.
  • What Gould and the Chestnuthill Supervisors should have done
There is no need for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State, to build a four-lane freeway through the West End in order to bypass the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. The solution is to re-route traffic around the Brodheadsville Bottleneck over existing roads.

As mentioned above, traffic driving to or from Eldred, and Polk Townships, the Weir Lake shopping area (Kinsley's Shoprite, Mr Z's, the old Ames Plaza), or the villages of Gilbert, Kresgeville, Kunkletown, and so forth should use Frantz Road to bypass the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. That's the green colored road to the South of  Route 209 in Figure 2, below.

Route 715 traffic should use the Silver Valley or Lake Mineola shortcuts to bypass the Brodheadsville Bottleneck. They are the green colored roads to the North of Route 209 that connect Route 715 to Route 209 in Figure 2, below.

These roads already are in place, here and now.

  • The first and easiest thing that should be done by Gould and the Chestnuthill Supervisors is to place road signs in the appropriate places indicating the Frantz Road bypass and the Lake Mineola and Silver Valley shortcuts.
  • Second, Gould and the Chestnuthill Supervisors should repave the Lake Mineola Road. It is in horrible shape. There needs to be some shoulder improvement there too.
  • Third, Gould and the Chestnuthill Supervisors should improve Frantz Road, Lake  Mineola Road, Silver Valley Road , and Cottontail Lane in order to better accommodate the bypassing traffic -- and to make those roads more attractive alternatives to traveling on Route 209 through downtown Brodheadsville.

The improvements would include widening the roads, widening and improving the shoulders, adding left turn lanes  where necessary, and so forth. All of this could be done, and should be done, within the money Chestnuthill Township has for road work. And it could be done, and should be done, right now.

For more information about the Frantz Road bypass and the Silver Valley and Lake Mineola shortcuts check the sections about them.



Traffic Jams and Bottlenecks Waste Gas, Pollute Environment, and Cost You Money

Traffic jams such as the ones caused by the Brodheadsville Bottleneck do much more than waste your time.

  • The extra fuel burned by vehicles caught in traffic jams such as the ones caused by the Brodheadsville Bottleneck waste money spent to buy fuel -- your money.
  • The fuel wasted means a higher consumption demand for fuel resulting in higher fuel prices -- the prices you pay for fuel.
  • The extra fuel burned by vehicles caught in traffic jams such as the ones caused by the Brodheadsville Bottleneck  end up in lots of needless fuel-burn pollutants -- thus polluting our environment.
  • Don't forget, when you are stuck in the Brodheadsville Bottleneck, you are breathing in a much more polluted atmosphere than you would be in normally flowing traffic.
The more we reflect on the Brodheadsville Bottleneck and all its ramifications, the more we come to the conclusion that the Brodheadsville Bottleneck is one of the most important current Chestnuthill Township and West End issues -- and one of the most important long term issues too. Thus it is downright shameful that Chuck Gould and the Chestnuthill Township Supervisors have not adequately addressed the Brodheadsville Bottleneck.

We also believe that the failure of Chuck Gould and the Chestnuthill Township Supervisors to adequately address and solve the Brodheadsville Bottleneck problem is gross negligence and dereliction of their responsibilities as township supervisors. Thus, because Chuck Gould and the Chestnuthill Township Supervisors have failed to adequately address and solve the Brodheadsville Bottleneck problem, they should be fired at the earliest time possible. For Chuck Gould, that is the May 17, 2005 Primary Election.
Before Lake Mineola road effectively can be used for a 209-715 shortcut it must be repaved, the shoulders must be widened, and the shoulders must be repaved/re-surfaced.

Even so, the Lake Mineola shortcut is a very pretty drive. Give it a try even if you do not usually travel on Route 715.

Lake Mineola Road needs to be widened. But there is a trick that could be used to avoid widening the portion of Lake Mineola Road that borders on the lake itself. It involves forking the road so that one lane of traffic goes behind the cabins abutting Lake Mineola road to the East and the other lane is the existing Lake Mineola Road along the lake front.

The new lane would only need to be a single lane, about 2,000 feet long. It's not that complicated nor that expensive in light of Chestnuthill Township's 1/2-million dollar annual payroll. We will look into the details about the new lane in a later edition of The West End Voice.


Routes 115 and 209 through Brodheadsville, Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County, Pa.

 Figure 1. Routes 115 and 209 through Brodheadsville and Chestnuthill Township Pennsylvania. The focal point of the infamous Brodheadsville Bottleneck is from the intersection of Routes 209 and 715 westward to the Y intersection of Routes 209 and 115.

Based upon Mapquest (c) 2005 MapQuest.com, Inc.


Routes 115 and 209 through Brodheadsville, Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County, Pa.

 Figure 2. Solutions to the infamous Brodheadsville Bottleneck. Traffic not headed for downtown Brodheadsville is rerouted (green roads) around the bottleneck (red) area between the intersection of Routes 209 and 715 westward to the Y intersection of Routes 209 and 115.

Based upon Mapquest (c) 2005 MapQuest.com, Inc.

Check our national publication, The American Voice.


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