Markley Street Reopening

Just a quick note today to say that Markley Street will be reopening to 2-way traffic this coming Friday, September 4th.  Yay!

Avoid Markley For At Least The Next Month

The good news is, we're getting close to the end of the nightmare that Markley Street's been the last few years. The bad news is, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

As I drove down Markley yesterday, I noticed parking restriction signs the length of the work area--no parking for the next 4 weeks. And I wondered if that meant it was time to pave the street. This morning I got notices from Matt Bradford and Linda Christian saying just that. The new curbs are in. Now it's time to start milling down the road surface, then paving.

PennDOT's only supposed to do this work Mondays through Thursdays from 9 am to 3 pm, but if the weather's bad, they may work Fridays, too. If you try to get through that way, you'll probably encounter flagmen and temporary slowdowns and stoppages. Even on the weekends and at nights, expect a bumpy road.

The best thing to do is avoid Markley completely if you can. Harding Blvd will get you around most of it, though the blocks between Elm and Harding and the blocks of Johnson Hwy near Markley will also be a mess. Those of us who live in the North End, especially those west of Markley, are particularly effected.

And I might add, nice timing PennDOT, with half the town wanting to come to Elmwood Park for July 4th. But we'll see, maybe it will be done by then.

The best news is, Markley should be opening up again this fall, once the paving's done and new street lights are installed and trees planted along the route.

Participate in a Council Workshop

Tomorrow night, Council will hold their monthly "workshop" meeting at 6:30 pm in the 1st Floor Conference Room at Municipal Hall.

I haven't had a chance to get to one of these workshop meetings yet, but I talked to Council Prez Bill Caldwell about them a few weeks ago. He says they're to invite discussion about topics concerning the town. Last month they had a discussion about the Carver Center. Unfortunately, the agenda didn't come out in time before the meeting, so a lot of residents who would have liked to participate in that discussion never knew it was going to take place.

Perhaps realizing their error last month, the agenda for tomorrow came out over the weekend. Here are the highlights:

1. A presentation about the PennDOT Markley St. Project.

2. 8 "Action items"--motions that need to be voted on, 3 regarding Police and Fire personnel, 1 agreement with East and West Norriton concerning shared equipment, 1 settlement of the lawsuit about landlords, tenants and police calls, 1 about handicapped parking spots, 1 agreement with PennDOT for Winter Traffic Services (does this mean we get cleared roads?), and a motion to participate in a "joint disposal bid."

3. Items for discussion include Community Development Block Grant projects for 2015, a recommendation for a Fair Housing consultant, the contract for a consultant to prepare the 5-Year Consolidated Plan (needed to get CDBG and other housing grants) and the Annual Action Plan, and a proposed ordinance to approve an intergovermental agreement between our Police Department and the PA Board of Probation and Parole.

There's a Public Comment period near the beginning of the meeting if you want to suggest any other topic for discussion or comment on any of the listed items. If you want to make a comment, before the meeting begins, there's usually a sign-up sheet--list your name and topic and you'll be called on.

You can read the full agenda at http://norristown.org/userfiles/file/council_workshop_aug_19_2014.pdf.