NORTHUMBERLAND -- There seem to be two Northumberlands.
There's the borough's quiet downtown, bordered by Front, King and Queen streets.
And then there's Duke Street, its homes and businesses stained black by the dirt and exhaust from the hundreds of cars, trucks and tractor-trailers that roll down the bumpy route every day.
It's the second Northumberland that has angered the Borough Council.
On the heels of news last week that the Routes 11-15 bypass has been scrapped, at least for now, the borough put up a very pointed sign in King Street Park: "Stuck in traffic?" it reads. "Call and demand bypass." Phone numbers for the state Department of Transportation and the office of Gov. Ed Rendell follow.
Council President Bryan Wolfe won't take credit for the ploy, but thinks it's a great idea.
"It's citizens that are in our community more than anything that are going to be affected by this," Wolfe said. "We have a two-lane highway running through our community that feasibly could be four lanes at this point because of all the traffic we're getting. We certainly can't expand that, so the ideal solution was the bypass and the understanding was the bridge was going to be built, and the road was going to be done, and this was going to be done within five years, and just like that it's gone."
PennDOT spokesman Rick Mason said calls have come into his office, but he couldn't say if they were a result of the borough's signs.
He also said motorists are barking up the wrong tree if they're blaming his agency.
"To call us, they'd be preaching to the choir," Mason said.
He said the state is in the midst of a "fiscal perfect storm" thanks to runaway inflation, the rising cost of oil and lower-than-expected revenues.
"I don't think anyone questions the need for it," Mason said. "If we don't have the money identified to building it, we can't build it."
He suggested people call state and federal legislators to demand the bypass be put onto the federal Appalachian Highway Development System, which would make the bypass eligible for special federal dollars.
But Wolfe does blame PennDOT officials, at least a bit. After all, he said, they're the ones who shelved the project before 2009 budget talks in Harrisburg had even begun.
To be fair, though, Wolfe allowed that the Valley had likely been failed at all levels.
"I think overall this certainly is a lack of state and federal leadership in a situation that, really, with the number of motorists that are using the strip to get from point A to point B, really they should not have to go through the borough of Northumberland on a two-way highway to get there," he said. "It's absolute nonsense that people have to sit in traffic every day."
More signs similar to the one in King Street Park are appearing throughout the borough.
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