Montgomery County, PA

Traffic!  It's everywhere—on our highways, in downtowns, around office complexes and malls, and along once roads that were once rural.  Between 1979 and 1999, traffic on the county's ten highest-volume roads more than doubled, growing 129 percent.  This is much more than the growth rate in population or jobs.  Despite increasing levels of traffic, Montgomery County's transportation system moves huge volumes of people and goods while offering a public transportation alternative to many county residents.  Yet, the county faces continuing  challenges—how to maintain and expand transit service and improve the highway system while accommodating increasing traffic volumes.

 

Transportation has an incredibly large impact on the county’s economy, quality of life, and development patterns.  Jobs locate near the best transportation facilities.  If these facilities don’t work, many jobs will leave.  Quality of life is difficult to measure, but without a doubt, wasting time in traffic jams or waiting for an infrequent train reduces it.  And, probably more than any other factor, transportation, particularly highways and their interchanges, drives development.  The Transportation Plan identifies important projects and policies that will help to keep the county moving.  The goal is to improve the efficiency and safety of the current system while giving everyone more transportation choices.  To accomplish this, the county, state, region, local municipalities, developers, businesses, and the public must work together to improve our roads, public transit, sidewalks, trails, and other transportation infrastructure.  In addition, local land use decisions must effectively take into account transportation needs.