According to 'Popular Mechanics', its testing showed that a car coasting downhill in gear actually uses NO gas at all, the momentum from the drive-train "running" the engine, while a car coasting in neutral uses SOME gasoline -- just enough to keep the engine idling, so not much, but still, more than zero.

Here's Ed's reply. Thanks Ed!

--------------------------

Dan,

Pretty good article!  Dave Allen of Popular Mechanics is correct, but he has missed a key point.

Consider his example of coasting down a 1 mile hill at 30 mph, and it takes 2 minutes.  He is correct that if you are in gear the engine runs faster than the idle speed and fuel consumption is zero, but if you are in neutral coasting then fuel is consumed to keep the engine running.  He is 100% correct about this.  The driver went this distance for free!

What the author is missing is that if you are coasting down this same hill in neutral (or with the clutch depressed) the car will travel faster that 30 mph (lets say 45 mph) because the engine will not be acting as a brake.  In this coasting case, the engine will use the idling fuel consumption of 1 gallon per hour, but at the end of the 1 mile the coasting car will coast well beyond the 1 mile point (lets say 2 miles).  So, for the 2nd mile the coasting car is still consuming the 1 gallon per hour of fuel, but the driver of the car in gear has to depress the gas pedal for the 2nd mile.  The 2nd-mile savings more than makes up for the idling fuel consumption in the first mile.

My arguement is that even though the coasting car is consuming the 1 gph it comes out ahead because it coasts much farther.

This is essentially what I meant to say in my original email, when I noted that "The advantage only exists when you substitute coasting for gassing".  (I my original email I inadvertently said "braking" instead of "gassing").

Bottom line is, coasting improves mileage ONLY if you substitute coasting for gassing.

 I get about a 10 percent improvement from about 34 to about 37 mph.  Best places are on slight downgrades or rolling hills that trend down.  Best example I can think of is on East Rock Road at the peak elevation at the LVAAS observatory to the top of South 4th Street near the Summit Lawn interchange on 78.  This is almost exactly 1 mile and if I am at 25 mph at the start I can coast the entire distance without ever touching the gas pedal (I even have to brake in a couple spots).  If however I am in gear I need to have my foot on the gas a lot. I would be happy to give you a personal demo on this stretch in my Hyundai Accent (both in gear and coasting) and you will see what I mean. 

Popular Mechanics article was correct, but it didn't tell the whole story.  As I would say "All coasting is not equal" (some coasting saves and some doesn't).

 Ed

---------------------------------------

The total reconstruction of the MacArthur Road interchange of Route 22, complete with the replacement of the existing bridge with a new structure, is scheduled to begin in earnest on Monday.

I'll just pass along the PennDOT news release with a few minor edits. Most of us are familiar with the basic details by now: Mostly night-time lane restrictions (thank God!), but with some temporary closures required from time to time. However, the lanes on both roads will be narrower than usual, and with heavy construction work going on all around, people will have no choice but to slow down. Given the kind of traffic jams that can crop up, particularly at rush hours and on weekends, on both of these roads, it's not hard to imagine that the next two years will require us to practice some extra anger-management skills.

Think that's not bad enough? As soon as this work is completed, they'll start the same process at the Fullerton Avenue interchange just to the east. Included in that two-year project: The reconstruction of the Lehigh River Bridge.

Keep smiling, fellow warriors! Like it or not, here it comes.

------------------------------------------------------

May 18, 2012 -- PennDOT Engineering District 5

Work on US 22/PA 145 Interchange Project to Begin Monday

Work to start on temporary pedestrian bridge

Allentown – Work is scheduled to begin Monday, May 21 on the first phase of a project to reconstruct the interchange of US 22 with MacArthur Road (Route 145) in Whitehall Township.

This first of five phases involves the construction of a temporary pedestrian bridge over 22, adjacent to the MacArthur overpass. The temporary bridge will accommodate pedestrian traffic during the reconstruction of the interchange. This initial work will require approximately one week of nighttime lane restrictions on 22 between 15^th Street and Fullerton Avenue. Motorists should anticipate weeknight lane restrictions on 22 east or west between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. the week of May 21 - 25. Updates will be provided whenever other traffic restrictions are implemented.     

The interchange project involves the reconstruction of MacArthur Road in the area of the interchange, replacing the MacArthur Road Bridge over Route 22, and construction of new interchange ramps. The construction of the temporary pedestrian bridge is expected to be complete this summer when the project enters its second phase: the start of the major reconstruction of the interchange.

The interchange is being reconfigured to eliminate the current merging movements on the 22 on and off ramps by replacing the cloverleaf interchange with a diamond interchange. Other improvements include new traffic signals on MacArthur Road at the interchange ramps and constructing a wider and taller bridge over 22.

The project is designed to improve traffic flow for the 87,000 vehicles travelling 22 and the 38,000 vehicles travelling MacArthur Road each day. It's a design/build project, which means the contractor, HRI Inc. of State College, is responsible for the final design and construction of the $13.8 million project.

In an effort to keep the public informed, PennDOT created a website for the project at www.145-22int.com.

Your April 27 column on license-plate covers prompted me to write about an issue that has bugged me for years: license-plate frames that obscure part or all of the information that's included on the tops and/or bottoms of registration plates.

These frames -- naming the auto dealer, the driver's alma mater or military branch of service, favorite vacation destination, or whatever -- are in some instances designed to creep up to the very letters and numbers on the plates. Gone are the names and slogans or web addresses of the issuing states.

My proposal: no frames, period (just as with plate covers). Do the bragging with decals. Leave the information on the plates clean and fully legible, as required by law.

Thanks,

Jim Pelc, Northampton

----------------------

Thanks Jim.

I don't think I'd want to ban license-plate frames outright, but manufacturers should make sure the designs to not encroach in any way that could obscure characters or information on the plate, and anything is even partially obscured, police should stop the motorists involved and confiscate said frames on the spot.

Now, they probably don't even have the authority to do that--I'm guessing they could issue a $25 citation and that's about it--but that's why stuff like this rarely seems to be enforced. At the very least, cops should write up offending motorists every time they spot one of these frames.

--R.W.

But information in that column Friday revealed that a surprising number of parents are leaving their kids unbelted in moving vehicles, for whatever reasons. The seat designs have been evolving pretty quickly over the years, and I found the information to be surprisingly complicated. If you're not playing close attention -- maybe cause your kids grew out of safety seats years ago, and not till they had offspring of their own did you have to think about it again -- you could be left in the dark.

There are other rationales as well, I'm sure. "I'm just making a quick trip, and someone took the seat out of the car the other day when the car was filled with adults, and I'm not even sure where such-and-such put it. It won't matter just for this short journey."

Then there's the libertarian point of view, or the anti-government-regulation stand. "Nobody's going to tell me what to do with my kids."

In any event, many people are playing a high-risk game: 40 percent of all child deaths in auto accidents involve kids that are totally unsecured. No child seat, no seat-belt, no nothing.

Maybe it wasn't such a dumb question after all.

Either way, a good time to get your two cents in will be offered tomorrow, when the agency holds is required annual public hearing. You can call LANTA with comments or complaints any time, of course -- it's a public authority, created by the two counties -- but this presents a special opportunity during which officials are sure to be listening, in real time. No voice-mail messages needed.

The hearing is scheduled for noon tomorrow, Friday May 11, at the authority's headquarters, 1060 Lehigh St., Allentown (next to Bicentennial Park).

Representatives of the two state agencies had planned to meet on April 27 at PennDOT's regional headquarters in Allentown. Some state park officials, as well as park volunteers and area residents, worry that rip rap applied to the canal bank to stabilize the road could impede or divert water flow when the canal is refilled. Some feel this could cause structural damage to the historic canal, though PennDOT engineers are confident the road repairs will cause no problems.

Here's the story from April 22:

Bethlehem officials say they're trying to get the money together to upgrade the older signals, which control traffic at the Route 22 on- and off-ramps on both sides of the bridge over 22, as soon as possible.

Thanks for the emails, folks!

----------------------------------

I was delighted to read the article today about the light problem at this intersection.  I have been hit in the rear twice in this area! i contacted the Bethlehem police and learned there have been 205 accidents in this area in the last five years!  I contacted PennDOT regarding this, and they said they kept statistics and their system did not indicate a problem!

Good luck on having some changes made in this area.  A member of the state police even stated this area was a problem.

--Kathryn Thompson, Hanover Township, Lehigh County

------------------------

Regarding the traffic-signal backplates discussed in your column today, seems to me a black backplate (which is most of what I've seen) is more useful in that visually busy environment than a white backplate like the one in your photo, in part because most pavements around there are either white (concrete) or light asphalt. So a simple backplate changeout would seem to be a quick and cheap solution worth trying.

--Richard Cuff, South Whitehall Township

-----------------------------------

Now that I got it, I wanted to pass on this interesting email from George Eichler, sent in response to my recent column on illegal tinted license-plate covers. George's daughter did, in fact, have an encounter with one of Arpaio's deputies, but that was when the Eichlers lived in Sheriff Joe territory.

Thanks for the cool story, George!

----------------

Hi Dan,

When we lived in Arizona several years ago tinted license plate covers  were sold to avoid traffic light cameras and mobile photo radar from identifying your license plate. Our daughter, who had one of these covers, was stopped by one of the Maricopa County Sheriff's department's cars.  That's Sheriff Joe Arpaio's department.

The deputy told my daughter that her plate number would be on file with the sheriff's department, and that she had 24 hours to remove it, and if she was caught again, she would go to "tent city."

The plate was promptly removed.  End of problem.  Law enforcement, Arizona style.

--George Eichler, Lower Macungie Township

---------------------------

It's about these ultra-convenient plastic shopping bags that we've allowed to invade every nook and cranny of the retail shopping experience. Obviously I'm not the first person to worry about these things littering the roadside (and countryside), or about their detrimental impact on the environment. But it sure seems as though we could put the brakes on this embarrassing wastefulness with very little of the psychic pain that comes with inconvenience.

To illustrate, an anecdote about shopping at the Allentown Farmers Market. There are, what, 30 merchants or so? On an average Saturday afternoon, I'll stop at a half dozen of them, buying one or two items at each, and inevitably I'll get a plastic bag at every one. Sometimes, one item (a block of cheese, say) will be wrapped in Saran, then put in a small plastic bag, then put in one of the familiar shopping-bag-size plastic bags.

So I decided to embark on one very small effort to conserve a few bags--plastic being made of oil and all. I've adopted the infamous "just say no" approach to plastic bags. I got a couple of the trendy, reusable cloth shopping bags for my weekly trips to the grocery store. But for a bigger effect, at the drug store, the hardware store, really any store, and especially the Farmers Market, I specifically tell the clerk, "I don't need a bag."

Take a step back and consider: In most cases, I buy an item or two at the drug store, pay for them, and walk from the counter to my car, usually 30 steps or so away. Why would I need a bag to carry that to my car, and then from my car into the house?

OK, if you buy six or seven small items, the logistics get a little tougher, so sure, then I take the bag. I'm not saying we should never accept a plastic bag. I'm suggesting we take them only when it's necessary. I've been doing this for about a year as a general practice, and clearly I've saved the manufacture of X number of bags. A hundred? Two hundred? I don't know, and compared to the billions used each year, my effort amounts to a grain of sand on all the deserts in the world.

But suppose everyone drove the same model? Or at least, a really big proportion of the hundreds of millions of adults in our country alone?

To maintain as much convenience as possible, you don't necessarily have to adopt the cloth-bag model proudly practiced by soppy PBS-watching liberals, either. For example, I  keep one or two of the bags in my jacket pocket (and a purse would be fine), and use them in lieu of the new ones thrown at you at every tiny purchase.

In some, even many cases, clerks are even reluctant comply with no-bag requests because bagging things has become such a by-rote procedure that the deviation interrupts the normal flow of the retail assembly line. The bags are held open by wire racks, and the clerks pass the products over the price scanners and boom, directly into the bag. 

A Farmer's Market clerk once insisted on bagging a single item because he wanted his stand's advertising, stamped on the bag, to be carried about the market. Just today, another insisted on bagging two lettuce containers (those hard-shell plastic containers, by the way) so that he and other merchants could be sure I didn't steal the product. I took the bag, but said, "It seems like such an environmental waste. There has to be a better way." I quickly realized that "paid" stickers are one common solution.

Yes, plastic shopping bags are recyclable, and some of them are recycled. Recycling is better than nothing, but it's not nearly as good as not using bags, and thus not producing them, in the first place. It does take some energy to recycle the bags, after all. And we recycle a pathetically low percentage of them. I don't know what it is offhand, and the estimates differ somewhat, but it's embarrassing, or should be. 

"Just say no" hasn't worked out very well as a rallying cry in the supposed war on drugs. Maybe it will fare a little better in this application. Why not give it a try?

Lane restrictions will be imposed on northound Route 100 between Schantz Road and I-78 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. This stretch of road in Upper Macungie Township is one of the busiest and, because of the huge volume of tractor-trailer traffic, scariest in the Valley. Road patching by the township is the reason.

By all means, detour that section of road if you can on Thursday. Rain could postpone the work, according to PennDOT.

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission said the bridge is safe, but recent inspections revealed that some of the steel in the support structure is deteriorating and should be repaired before the comprehensive rehabilitation of the span scheduled for 2013. That work will commence as planned next year, according to the commission.

Daytime Route 22 lane closures are not expected, though commission spokesman Eric Vickers said it’s possible that some closures will be required for limited periods at night. The sidewalks on the bridge will remain open. Two-way traffic will be maintained on Broad Street, though the sidewalk on the west side of Broad will be closed for the month-long July construction period, according to the current schedule. The sidewalk on the east side will stay open.

The viaduct was built in 1937 and dedicated the following year, officials said.

Here's one recent example provided by Mike Larkin of North Whitehall Township. Thanks for letting us know, Mike!

------------------

The latest display of driver buffoonery in the area involves motorists parking in the striped areas BETWEEN the handicapped spaces, which defeats the whole purpose of having the spaces to begin with.

In order to exit my vehicle, I have to open my driver-side door as far as it will go, but that is virtually impossible if someone pins their car up against mine by parking in the striped area. This happens all the time at the Weis Market in Schnecksville, but it is happening more often in other parking lots around the area.

Another annoying variation of this is a driver who parks in such a way to take up two handicapped spaces. I am reluctant to call the police over a relatively trivial issue like this, when they have far bigger fish to fry. What can a frustrated driver do to minimize these violations?

--Mike Larkin, North Whitehall Township

-------------------

I say call the cops, Mike. Maybe they won't always have the time to come out. But sometimes they might, and it's worth a shot at slapping violators with a nice, hefty fine.

Thanks Ernie!

----------

Two comments about the greed of the politicians in harrisburg:
 
the statement on the Revenue Dept. website, "sales tax due is a percentage of the market value, not the purchase price",  to paraphrase, is obviously very misleading and very incorrect. this is clearly a case of intimidation.

what you agree to sell a car for and what a buyer agrees to pay is nobody's business but your's and the buyer's. The only possible scenario that would cause an increase in collection of the sales tax is if the party buying the vehicle would actually be stupid enough to tell the dmv that he or she paid more for the vehicle than what he or she actually reported to the notary. I guess such stupidity exists and, in those cases, they certainly deserve to pay the extra tax and they obviously need a figurative 2 x 4 upside the head.

(the real knee-slapper is when you are notified by the dmv of how much tax was reported by the dealer concerning a purchase you recently made, asking you to notify them of any discrepancies. they are implying that a dealer would jeopardize his business and his reputation by reporting a lesser sales price and subsequently a less sales tax figure in order to pocket the sales tax difference! in my opinion, that is a huge waste of time and money and paperwork. that's almost as bad as wasting 4 million dollars to implement a voter i.d. law to prevent 4 known cases of voter fraud!)
 
there is also the little detail about collecting tax on top of tax on top of tax.  a vehicle is sold new at the dealership and the sales tax is assessed. that should be the end of the gravy train for the dmv. of course, it isn't. you buy a car for $30,000. and pay $1800. sales tax.  then 3 years later you sell it privately for $20,000. and the state collects another $1200.   then 3 yrs. later that person sells it to another party  for $10,000. and the state collects another $600.  so, the state collects a total of $3,600. tax,  or 12%, on the same vehicle.  i don't think that's right , but that's how it is done.  i think it would have been entirely appropriate for you to bring up that dirty little secret.
 
the only time the buyer gets a break is if he or she trades at a dealer and the trade-in price is deducted from the vehicle before the sales tax is computed. it's amazing they allow that.
 
thank you for writing your column. i always try to read it to stay informed about the dmv circus.
 
--ernie svites, jr, hellertown

After covering this terrirtory repeatedly--both myself an "Watchdog" columnist Paul Muschick have written multiple columns on vehicle removals and return fees that motorists considered unfair or even predatory--I strongly advised folks to avoid parking in the plaza lot--EVER--unless they're shopping there.

For people car-pooling to events in Philadelphia or elsewhere (that's the usual reason, what with the Turnpike interchange being so close), I said it's worth the trouble for one person to round up all the rest rather than taking a chance on being towed from the plaza.

Frequent Warrior contributor and self-described "road geek" Richard Cuff of South Whitehall retained my initial concept--do NOT use the plaza lot for car-pooling--then drove a Porsche 911 right past my broken-down Chevy of a recommendation for one person to drive around picking everyone else up.

Instead of my time- and gas-wasting recommendation, Cuff said Phillies' fans or anyone else could use the official PennDOT "Park & Ride" lot adjacent to the Bieber Bus Terminal (and the former Charcoal Drive-In) on Hamilton Boulevard just west of I-78.

It's a bit farther from the Turnpike interchange, but not by much, and it's a straight shot on I-78 to get there. I'd say it's a five-minute ride, max. Brilliant!

Contrary to the Kmart lot where cash-hungry tow trucks lurk, awaiting their prey, the PennDOT lot specifically is designated as a car-pooling lot, and besides, it was built with tax money from all of us. Nobody's going to tow you from there for car-pooling.

Thanks for the splendied idea, Richard!

I was aware of deer whistles, but I scoped around the internet a bit and could find no convincing evidence that they work. The idea is, the small devices attach to the front bumper, emitting an noise audible to deer that scares them off the road as the vehicle approaches. A certain minimum speed is required.

I won't pass judgment on deer whistles--I've never tried them, and it's tough to prove one way or another how effective they might be--but they're inexpensive, and for people who routinely use roads frequented by the ubiquitous animals, the devices might be worth a try.

Thanks to those to emailed about deer whistles:

------------------

Road Warrior,

Tell people that drive where deer are to put deer whistles on their cars. They DO work, but you have to be going 35 to 40 miles an hour. We live off Route 329 near Old Post Road in North Whitehall, deer used to do U turns when they heard our car with the whistles approaching.

--Dolly Longenbach, North Whitehall Township

----------------

Warrior,

I just read your article concerning the hazards of deer crossings in today's (Friday April 13) paper. I installed on my two cars and pickup truck a device produced by "Bell" called "Deer Warning" which is available at Kmart for around $7.00.

 I drive throughout Pennsylvania, and take long drives to hunt deer on a farm in McKean and Potter counties.  I also travel to the mountains in New Jersey on a regular basis. The device helps protect you and your vehicle from collisions with deer and other animals near the road. Air forced through at speeds over 30 mph create dual pitch sounds that alert animals to oncoming vehicles.  They are easy to install with double-stick tape on the base. These have proven beneficial and have provided piece of mind to me while driving through areas populated by deer.

Hope this is helpful.

-- Paige Yoder, Slatington

---------------------------

(Then there's this gem from my "friend" Ron Horvath of Bethlehem):

Dan,

Did you hear about the woman who wanted the township to move the "Deer Crossing" sign so the deer would cross the road somewhere else?

Thanks,

Ron Horvath

(I told Ron to keep his day job. Standup clearly is not for him.)

I can't vouch for the accuracy of no-name-man's descriptions, of course. For example, I've heard previously that in some cases, people who work at stores in the plaza have had their cars towed mistakenly. No-name man contends that workers place signs on their vehicles to prevent this from happening; I haven't checked that out specifically, but I have spent some time looking around the lot on several occasions, checking out the posted "tow zone" signs and general conditions, and never have seen a car with any note or sign marking it as the car of an employee.

Anyway, for what it's worth:

--------------------

To: Dan Hartzell, Morning Call

Your recent articles about towing cars from the Kmart Plaza bring to mind the following facts and observations.

1-Employees who work in the various stores in the center must put signs on their car's front windshield saying they work there, or their cars will also be towed away. Unbelievable!

2-The parking lot is never more than 20 percent occupied by cars, even during the holiday peak-shopping season. I could understand if parking was at a premium because of a chronically crowded lot, but there is no demand to fill all the spaces. Most of the time you could play baseball game in the middle of the lot and never hit a car with the ball.

3-This scenario with tow trucks waiting in the lot spying on people reminds me of the classic western movie theme where bounty hunters are hired. The tow operators earn their "bounty" by way of the tow fees.

4-The main objective of a shopping center's marketing plan is to attract and retain shoppers, not to drive them away with a draconian and negative ordinance. The owner of the center totally fails to understand this fundamental, financial objective of retail management. This is especially true during a poor economic climate. Perhaps they should change the center's name to "Ghost Town Plaza."

Yours truly,

"The man with no name!"

----------------------

Again, I don't endorse everything "the man" is saying. As some readers have pointed out, people who park in the lot to car-pool for trips to sports or entertainment events in Philadelphia (or for any reason, really, though I think Phillies' games and similar events are a big driver of this practice) have no one to blame but themselves when they return to find their cars have vanished.

"I learned to read," one person commented, "and rules are rules," and the rules are posted on signs within the lot. They may not have been posted some years ago, or not posted clearly, as some folks have contended, and that would be a different matter. But they've been posted clearly since I became involved, and if you car-pool or park overnight, and your car is towed, the person at fault is the one you see in the mirror.

As for the property owners, I hate to defend them because they've totally blown me off in my efforts to talk to them about the situation. But I have to say this: If and when the strict enforcement of the parking regulations posted on THEIR property hurt them financially, maybe then they'll do something about it. Ease the regulations perhaps, I don't know, I'm not a commercial property owner. I would think the business owners leasing storefronts from the property owners would have some say in this as well, from Kmart on down to the pizza shop, Chinese restaurant and other smaller stores. But who knows? Once again, I'm not directly involved.

Until the landlord, as it were, amends the rules, you have to assume that violators' cars will be towed from that lot as fast as a Porsche 911 in a drag race.

So here, for the umpteenth time, is my recommendation, and I know I can speak for my colleague Paul "The Watchdog" Muschick as well:

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT PARKING IN THE KMART PLAZA LOT UNLESS YOU'RE SHOPPING AT THE KMART PLAZA.

If you're going to a Flyers' playoff game, or wherever, go to the extra trouble of having one person collect all the parties traveling to the game. It's likely to save a lot of time, a fair amount of money, and a Hummer's worth of frustration.

He was proved right at about 2 p.m. today, when I personally witnessed sleet or freezing rain striking Linden Street, the little balls of ice rolling along the road surface. I thought my colleague Patrick Lester was kidding when he passed by in the lunch room saying, "It's sleeting." I laughed. But he was serious.

I'm still not sure if it was sleet (the ice forming in the air) or freezing rain (very cold raindrops solidifying when they strike the surface), but it sure was solid after it hit the street and sidewalk. I'm steering toward sleet cause I could see the tiny balls bouncing off the road surface, suggesting it was solid by the time it hit.

Anyway, "We have plenty of it" leftover, Young had said of road salt on March 23. In addition to the unusually warm winter, "We have guaranteed contracts … with suppliers and with salting contractors," so supplies used early were replenished. Though PennDOT has a Hummer's worth of storage capacity, "I'm hearing that some municipalities are scrambling to find someplace to put their [leftover] materials," Young said.

In the winder of 2010-11, crews laid down 108,365 tons of salt in Allentown-based District 5, a number that declined to 34,117 tons in 2011-12 through March 12, Young said. In addition to granular salt, they applied 577,653 gallons of salt brine in 2010-11, versus 273,768 gallons in 2011-12, he said. "That's a little higher [proportionally], but that’s because we had several meteorological predictions of snow that turned out to be either nothing or rain," Young said. "Weather prediction is not an exact science."

And as any school superintendent knows, better to be safe than sorry.

PennDOT paid between $57.84 and $66.15 per ton for salt last fall, depending upon the supplier and the county maintenance unit making the purchase, Young said.

Bethlehem Public Works Director Mike Alkhal said the city used about 30,000 tons of salt this past winter, a fraction of the usual amount. "We did pretty well with that," he said. "I'm estimating we'll save about $200,000" as a result, he said, "and of course we need every penny of it for [street] paving.

"We've really struggled with our paving program, that’s not a secret," Alkhal continued. "You've got oil prices contributing, the ADA ramps," and other factors conspiring to drive up costs, he said.

With the federal stimulus money beginning to fade, "We really need to earmark substantially more funding for this activity," he said, while adding that the city's budget, like those of other municipalities, have been tighter than ever. "We may be able to do one more road" than had been expected with the "windfall" of salt savings, Alkhal said. "I'm hoping to get Lehigh Street done this year, but I'm still not sure."

Here's one from Susan and James Case, as described by Susan, in response to my blog last week regarding a similar tale:

--------------

Road Warrior,

I just had to respond to the Best of the Week's Blog column in the Sunday's paper concerning cars being towed from the Kmart lot and in particular, Azar Towing.

Our daughter's car was towed on a Friday night after she and a friend carpooled down to Philadelphia, and yes, we and she know that she was in violation of the posted signs, so we were prepared to pay the towing fee and consider it a lesson learned.

The message we received after calling the posted number said that if you could not pick up your car by 1 a.m. (it was 1:10 a.m. Saturday by that time) it needed to be picked up by 8 that morning. So, less than seven hours later, we arrived at the lot, on time, to find the doors of the towing company locked.

We called Azar again and were told that someone would be there shortly. After a twenty-minute wait, we called again -- and left a voice-mail message. No answer that time, and no return call to us. After repeating this process several times, and now an hour has gone by, we contacted police. We were reluctant to leave the lot, feeling that this could be misconstrued as abandoning the car, since the message was that it had to be picked up by 8.

Long story short, it took calls to both the South Whitehall and Allentown police departments, and two hours, before we were able to get the car. We paid $150. It's not surprising that the New York company that owns the Kmart Plaza and has the contract with Azar towing doesn't care how reputable the towing company is, but you would think the merchants in the plaza would care. Like Mr. Treese, whom you wrote about previously, we will no longer patronize any of the businesses in the plaza.

In this economy, can the business owners in the plaza really afford to alienate prospective customers when the parking lot is empty half the time as it is?

--Susan Case

-------------------

      Susan Case

PennDOT officials continually assure us that an S.D. rating does not mean a bridge is danger of imminent collapse. If that were the case, spokesman Ron Young often has said, the state would close the bridge in question immediately to ensure public safety.

By that standard, the State Street Bridge in Portland borough, about eight miles northeast of Bangor as the crow flies, could be ready to fall into Jacoby Creek.

OK, it might not be about to crumble into the water at any moment. But PennDOT quickly closed the span today after an engineering inspection, which suggests that it didn't exactly earn an A-plus rating.

"The State Street Bridge over Jacoby Creek is closed until further notice due to a failing arch on the structurally deficient, 91-year-old stone ... arch bridge," PennDOT said in a news release. "The failure was discovered today during an inspection of the structure. Traffic will be detoured through the Route 611 interchange with River Road."

The bridge will be closed "until further notice," the release said. I wouldn't expect a re-opening any time soon. They'll have to decide whether to repair or replace the span, and map a course to the money for the job.

Fortunately, this bridge has an average daily traffic volume of only 755 vehicles. Still, it's a big inconvenience for motorists who routinely use the span.

Portland lies at the northeastern edge of Northampton County, along the Delaware River, surrounded by Upper Mount Bethel Township. A toll bridge carries Route 611 across the river and into Columbia, N.J. 

In a previous accident, Patrick Ytsma of Bethlehem was hit by a car while riding his bike on the Fahy on Dec. 4, and died from his injuries in St. Luke's Hospital, Fountain Hill, four days later. In an ironic twist, Ytsma, a 53-year-old father of two, had been an outspoken advocate for bicycling safety for many years.

"We are just clearing another vehicle v. bicycle accident on Fahy Bridge," Bethlehem cops reported at 3:51 p.m. yesterday on their Twitter feed, lamenting the latest mishap. "PLEASE pay attention when driving! It may be worth a life," the officers pleaded.

The Coalition for Appropriate Transportation subsequently reported the victim was Frank Pavlick, a certified cycling instructor, and that he "miraculously" escaped serious injury. That's great news.

You can debate whether it's a good idea to use the area inside a busy ramp such as that as a dump site -- will the dump trucks hold up traffic while entering and exiting to deposit their dirt, gravel, broken concrete and asphalt an the like? -- but at least there's a reason other than the usual "let's nuke 'em!" procedure.

OK, PennDOT doesn't call it "let's nuke 'em!". That's my description. They call it their "more agressive" trimming procedure, designed to save us all money by increasing the time between trims, that leaves interchange infields looking like used nuclear-test sites. Sure, they have to keep the sight-lines clear -- safety first and all that -- but sometimes the ferocity of the attack seems irrational.

Here are some recent comments from readers in that regard. Thanks for emailing, folks!

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After reading your article, 309 is not the only place where all foliage is being utterly devastated.  Take a look at the major chop job done at all the ramps at Routes 22 and 33.  It looks like a twister touched down.  What is going to happen if we have torrential spring rains.?  What's to stop water run off?   Also, quite frankly in this day of insufficient revenues to fix our roads, etc., it seems like a waste of money.

--Dennis Snell, Bethlehem

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Yesterday I commented to my wife about an area which was “nuked” similar to the one you wrote about at Tilghman and Route 309.  This one is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Routes 22 and 512.  They seem to have taken the approach – if it doesn’t move, chop it down.  Was this done so they don’t have to trim as frequently, as you mentioned?

--Trent Stehr, East Allen Township

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Dan,

As I drove past the interchange at Center Street (Route 512) and Route 22 about 10:30 a.m. today, I noted that crews are cleaning up the remains of the total clear-cut of brush and trees at that intersection.  PennDOT seems to be continuing its campaign to rid Pennsylvania highways of all growth but grass. 

--Derick Van Schoonhoven,  Bethlehem

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People sometimes use the lot as a kind of park-and-ride facility, car-pooling for work or entertainment events such as Phillies' games. Quite a few years ago, the Rochester, N.Y. company that owns the shopping center installed signs prohibiting overnight parking and car-pooling, and hired Azar Towing of Allentown to enforce the regulations.

Several people have returned from absences of six, eight, or 10 hours to find their cars have vanished, and have complained about the parking restrictions, and even more so about the fees for towing and "storage" of their vehicles. Folks have reported being charged hundreds of dollars to free their cars. Azar officials have said they charge reasonable prices and often give people breaks because of extenuating circumstances -- one person left his car on the lot because of a medical emergency, for example.

Frankly, I don't have a Hummer's worth of sympathy for people towed after leaving their cars for 10 hours. The signs are clearly posted. There's been considerable publicity about many cars being towed. So I assume folks either don't see the signs (for which you can't blame the property owners), or the decide to take a chance (for which there's no outside party to blame).

But Peter Treese of Bethlehem had an experience worth noting today. According to Treese, he met his wife at the Kmart Plaza about 9 a.m., him coming from work, her from home, so they had separate cars. They ducked into Dunkin' Donuts, then went to Kmart briefly, driving across part of the lot to get there, just to shorten the walk, as many of us would do. After a few minutes in Kmart, Mrs. Treese suggested breakfast at a diner in Kuhnsville, just a mile or so west on Tilghman. So they left for the diner in her car, leaving his truck on the lot, and returned, Treese swears, less than an hour later. He says closer to 45 minutes. His truck was gone. Later, looking at the time of the tow on the receipt from Azar, Treese determined that the truck was towed only about 10 minutes after they arrived -- probably while they were still in Kmart.

After being assured by Dunkin' Donuts employees that his car likely was towed, not stolen as he'd imagined (that's the first panicked impression of many people), he went to Azar's yard and was told the fee to free his four-wheel-drive truck, which must be moved on a flat-bed truck, would be $150.

Incensed, Treese argued that he'd been gone for only 45 minutes (at that time unaware it may have been much less), and the shortcut version is, his fee was reduced to $100, and eventually to $43.

"I can understand if it's overnight [parking]," Treese told me, "but this was 45 minutes, and we shopped at two of the stores!" He said Azar has people watching the lot, lying in wait for violators.

And that's absolutely right, said Azar's General Manager Joe Salidi. They sometimes have a driver sit in the lot, in a tow truck -- no exactly a clandestine approach, he noted -- and still people car-pool. And the Treeses' activity this morning does qualify as car-pooling, Salidi said. Two people arrive in two cars, depart in one of them, and leave the other car unattended on the lot. That's car-pooling.

He's right, in a strictly technical sense. And Treese agreed, in a very, very strictly technical sense. But he argued for reason to prevail. "It was 45 minutes!" he said.

OK, but that's why he got a break, Salidi insisted. Azar would have been within its rights to charge the full $150 fee.

Some of the details didn't match precisely in the accounts of these events expressed by the two men, but for the most part, the facts were not in dispute. Rather, the procedure was harsly criticized by Treese, while Salidi defended it, saying there's nothing wrong with posting monitors at the lot, or for towing someone almost immediately when the infraction occurs, for that matter.

At the end of the road, Treese played this trump card: "I will never go into that parking lot again," he said.

No more donuts, and no more Blue Light Specials for the Treeses, at least not at that those particular stores, or any others in the Kmart Plaza.

The long-anticipated "Route 22 MacArthur Interchange: The Reconstruction" is listed on the marquee, set to begin its two-year run "this spring," PennDOT spokesman Ron Young said today. He could not be more specific about exactly when we'd see the monstrous heavy equipment start showing up.

If you'll recall from the previous films in this series, the state's original plan was to widen Route 22 from four to six lanes between the 15th Street and Airport Road interchanges, but that was sent back to re-write a few years ago because of sticker shock among PennDOTofficials. They were scared off by the $240 million bottom line. (Actually, the script for widening 22 since has been re-written, and technically there are plans to put this thriller into production yet again. However, PennDOT has no financial backers as yet, so a shoot date has not been set, and should not be expected for many years).

Anyway, regardless of whether the widening ever takes place (I think not), they're going ahead with the horrifying reconstruction of the MacArthur interchange for the next two years (or possibly longer), followed immediately by a similar overhaul to Route 22's Fullerton Avenue interchange and a revamping of its Lehigh River Bridge now scheduled for 2014-15. The cost estimate for all that is about $114 million, though it's been rising, having started at $96 million when the plan was announced in August 2009.

Many improvements are planned at MacArthur, most notably eliminating the dangerous weave patterns where motorists getting on or off the highway, respectively, fight for position on a single lane beneath the bridge. That's a B-picture horror movie in itself.

Though lane closures on 22 or on MacArthur will be limited to night hours for this project, the open lanes will be artificially narrow, distracting construction work will be going on all over the set, and traffic flow that is trying at best under normal conditions will be even scarier. The November-December holiday shopping seasons will be particularly frightful: Though active construction will be halted then, and at other holidays and during Musikfest, the tight lanes and other distractions will remain.

To its credit, PennDOT has created a Web site to keep us informed about developments during the project. Here's today's news release, with a link to the site:

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News for Immediate Release - March 27, 2012

PA 145 Interchange with US 22 to Receive Much-Needed Upgrade

Allentown – Motorists in the Lehigh Valley will soon be enjoying a smoother and safer ride thanks to some extensive work planned for the US 22 interchange with PA 145 / MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township.

The US 22 / PA 145 Interchange Project involves the reconstruction of PA 145/MacArthur Road in the area of the interchange, replacing the PA 145/MacArthur Road Bridge over US 22, and construction of new interchange ramps.

The interchange will be reconfigured to eliminate the current merging movements on the US 22 on/off ramps by replacing the cloverleaf interchange with a diamond interchange. Other improvements include new traffic signals on MacArthur Road at the interchange ramps and constructing a wider and taller MacArthur Road Bridge over US 22. The project is designed to improve traffic flow for the 87,000 vehicles travelling US 22 and the 38,000 vehicles travelling MacArthur Road each day. The first phase of the project will entail the construction of a temporary pedestrian bridge over US 22 to accommodate pedestrian traffic during the reconstruction of the interchange.

 This is a design/build project, which means the contractor, HRI, Inc. of State College, Centre County, is responsible for the final design and construction on the $13.8 million project. They are finishing the final design, and the temporary pedestrian bridge is expected to be under construction this spring. Major construction on the rest of the project is expected to begin this summer. The project is expected to be complete in December 2013.

In an effort to keep the public informed, PennDOT is pleased to announce a new website for the project, The website can be viewed at www.145-22int.com. The website contains information on the status of the project, feeds from US 22 traffic cameras near the interchange, and allows for the public to sign up for email updates. Everyone is encouraged to visit the website for the latest information about the project.

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Interesting.

Unfortunately, I think we are past the point of no return.  Cell phones are like handguns, there are just too many of them around. People are too used to talking on them non-stop to have any type of discipline.

Plus, there are too many people making money from cell phones, Bluetooth devices, etc., to ever get them under control.

The fine for texting while driving is all of $50.  That'll get their attention!

--Jack Helffrich 

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Like the cartoon published with the column said: "You can have my cell phone when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers." Jack may be right, unfortunately--and by the way, neither Jack nor I are commenting on gun control, but only on banning cell-phone use behind the wheel.

I don't know Jack's thoughts on either issue, actually. But regarding cell-phone use while driving, despite his doubts about enforcement, I still think it should be forbidden by law, nationwide.

What often irks me is not only the fact that people talk on the phone while the driving, but the conditions under which they choose to do so.

For example, you'll see people leaving a parking lot--grocery store, convenience store, whatever--blabbing on the phone. If you're leaving a parking lot, that means you got into your car, started it up and began driving just a minute or so ago. You could have made the call before leaving the lot!

And if you received a call just as you pulled away from your parking space, you could have chosen not to answer the phone. Or, you could have pulled into another space to answer.

Regardless of the car's location, if it's so imperative to answer the phone, please pull over at the first safe opportunity and conduct the vital business of the call without endangering the rest of us!

One of the problems, Alkhal said at the time, was that some of the underground wiring for the lights was "direct buried", without protective conduit, leading to chronic deterioration. The ultimate repair would be to replace all of the unprotected wires with new stuff, inside conduit, or plastic tubes that preclude ground contact for the wires. But that would be quite costly, he said, and though it was a long-range goal, he would not venture a time estimate.

Well, I happened to notice as I drove the length of 378 last night that unless I missed one here or there, every bulb was illuminated for the entire stretch from Route 22 to the south end of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge.

I called Alkhal today to see if he'd managed to swing the wire-replacement project somehow, despite the recession and the drag-brake effect it's had on municipal budgets. Alas, that's not the answer. The old naked wiring is still there.

As it happens, crews recently conducted repairs on sections of lights that were out, Alkhal said, to my timing just happened to be lucky. "They were able to rig things up and get them all working," he said, as if to imply that that's no guarantee the bulbs will continue glowing for any long period of time. "It's direct burial, we still get shorts from time to time," he said. "We have been able to trouble-shoot and get a better handle on what we need to do" to locate and repair shorted wires, he said.

The conduit probject is still on the wish list -- and still a far stretch down the road, Alkhal said.

Traveling in a similar direction, Richard Buralli of Phillipsburg noticed in November that the lighting on Route 22's infamous "Cemetery Curve" near the Easton interchanges had gone dark, not too many years after it was installed. He put it this way, quite correctly:

"Some time ago new light standards and lights were installed on Route 22 in the Easton area around Cemetery Curve between 13th Street and 4th Street. They functioned for a short while, but now the entire area is completely dark. Can you find out what happened that this area is no longer illuminated at night?  This curvy area is always prone to accidents and lighting certainly is a great help."

PennDOT booked Metropolitan Edison to fix the stretch on Jan. 31, but the work was postponed because an accident that day tied up traffic for the entire morning. I haven't seen a news release that it's been re-scheduled as yet, but it should be happening soon.

Thanks for the question, Richard, and if you get a chance, let me know if those lights are fixed yet.