PennDOT to widen Rt. 322 in Upper Chichester, Pennsylvania, in hopes of improving safety, traffic
A major thoroughfare in Delaware County is getting a $99 million upgrade.
PennDOT is widening a section of U.S. 322 — Conchester Highway — from two lanes to four lanes to alleviate traffic and cut down on accidents.
"I know it is a torture, especially summertime, going east on 322, it backs up quite a way," Ray Kendall from Downingtown said. "So yes, it is needed."
This is part of a larger project to widen U.S. 322 from U.S. 1 to I-95. Phase one of the project involved widening the road from U.S. 1 to Clayton Park Drive in Concord Township. That was completed in December 2020.
PennDOT is now entering phase two of the project, which is a 1.4-mile section of Conchester Highway from Cherry Tree Road/Bethel Avenue to Market Street in Upper Chichester.
"We're adding traffic signals in places," PennDOT spokesperson Brad Rudolph said. "It's going to be completely reconstructed."
PennDOT's goal is to improve safety and ease congestion. Known as "Killer Conchester," the road is notorious for crashes. PennDOT says from 2004 to 2023, there were 1,914 crashes on Conchester Highway. That doesn't include a deadly crash in Boothwyn in April when four people were killed after a police chase.
"There's been a lot of accidents," Nancy Mullin from Upper Chichester said. "I think it [the project] would help. I do. I think it would help a lot."
In order to widen the highway, PennDOT said it will have to take property through eminent domain. One of those properties is a used car dealership called Highline Motors, where employees said they will lose about a foot of land right next to the highway.
PennDOT said it paid fair market value for the properties it purchased.
Contractors are expected to begin utility work by the end of 2024. During construction, PennDOT said it will keep one lane of traffic open in each direction to minimize the impact on drivers. Phase two of the project should be complete by 2030.
