Traffic concerns aired
A BET Investments proposal to build a residential, retail and commercial development on the Prudential tract at 2101 Welsh Road was presented to the Upper Dublin Planning Commission July 16.
Promenade East would comprise 600 apartments, 160 stacked townhouses, 100,000 square feet of medical or corporate office space, a 150-unit senior and assisted living facility, potential hotel and an Upper Dublin police substation. The 90-acre site was purchased by BET for $30.25 million in 2022.
Founded by Michael Markman and Bruce Toll, BET developed the adjacent Promenade at Upper Dublin with 400 apartments, retail and restaurants connected to the Enclave — 114 single-family 55-plus homes — at Dreshertown and Welsh roads.
Steve Pollock, president of the Enclave HOA, told the commissioners residents felt they were being “left out” of the conversation and “want to be part of the dialogue.”
While he has met with Markman and BET Vice President of Development Peter Clelland, Pollock said, “We just want some considerations. The traffic impact on us has not been studied.”
“We’re just here to start the process, Robert W. Gundlach Jr., the attorney representing BET, said. “We’re not looking for any recommendation. We want to work with the planning commission.”
Promenade East
Markman, president of BET, which owns the office building on Dryden Road adjacent to the Promenade, said the 900,000-square-foot Prudential building was “obsolete” and is currently being torn down.
The proposed 106,120 square feet of shops and restaurants at Promenade East would be less than that at the Promenade at Upper Dublin, he said. The biggest stores — 30,000 to 45,000 square feet — would be near Blair Mill Road, with smaller retail along Welsh Road connecting with the existing Promenade, he said.
Markman described the “high-end apartments” in three buildings of 200 units each, as studio, one- and two-bedroom units starting at $2,500 with upscale amenities. The stacked townhouses, comprising two over two units, would have garages and an elevator option and would be for sale, he said.
The medical or corporate office buildings “would be built to suit,” he said,” with shared parking and easy access to Blair Mill Road.
The senior and assisting living facility would offer independent and assisted living with limited dementia and be at the rear of the property, with a buffer bordering Dublin Hunt. Markman said.
A township-requested police substation site would be donated to the township, and the “potential hotel” would be next to a proposed turnpike entrance on Welsh Road, he said.
The development, which shows two traffic circles, would also have a trail system, outdoor exercise stations, and pedestrian and vehicle connections between all the properties, he said. Connections between the existing Promenade, BET’s office building and Promenade East would be improved, he said.
Markman estimated construction would not start until 2026 and would take 8 to 10 years to build out.
Traffic
UDPC Chair Mike Cover, noting there is already “a bit of a logjam” on Welsh Road, asked when some improvements might be made.
BET “is participating with the Turnpike for an interchange,” which “would take a lot of pressure off Dreshertown Road,” Markman said, but is not expected any sooner than 10 years.
Upper Dublin Township’s traffic engineer, Jack Smyth, said the two bridges over the Turnpike and railroad at Computer Drive, Twining and Welsh roads should be widened and reconstructed but there is currently no funding for the project.
“We’re working with PennDOT,” which owns Welsh Road, “on a concept that could be funded in the future,” Smyth said. It would take four years to design and two for construction “once funding is available.”
“The biggest takeaway is those bridges are an independent project from a future Turnpike interchange,” Smyth said. The township has met with PennDOT “to put it on their radar screen,” he said.
Nicole Kline, a traffic engineer with Bowman Consulting working with BET, said its predictions regarding traffic at the existing Promenade are “plus or minus 10 percent of what was anticipated.”
Noting Welsh and Jarrettown roads have queueing and delay where two lanes merge into one, she said BET would extend the second Welsh Road through lane beyond the Jarrettown Road signal, which “would reduce delays even with added traffic.”
Kline also addressed the potential number of children living in the apartments and townhouses at Promenade East at an estimated 65. If the ratio was the same as the Promenade apartments, from where 19 attend UD schools, rather than the original estimate of 24, the number could be 38, she said.
Promenade East would provide more in taxes than the associated costs for the school district and the township, Markman said.
Several planners expressed concern over traffic generated by the project without improvements to the bridges and a new Turnpike interchange.
Traffic was also a major concern of residents who spoke.
“Dryden Road is one of our main entrances; we’re responsible for 25 percent of its upkeep,” Pollock said. With the proposed development “Dryden will be turned into a major intersection. There are things that have to get analyzed.
“A lot of things are being dictated to us,” he said. “We’re going to get inundated with traffic unless we get a gate” on Dryden “to keep people from coming in and out” using it as a cut-through.
There is also talk of connecting the new trail with the existing one at the Promenade, but “it’s extremely difficult to get insurance for private property for public use,” Pollock said. “We want the township to take over the trail so we wouldn’t have the liability issues.”
Residents from Dublin Hunt and other properties brought up a lack of sidewalk to connect that development with the trail at the Promenade, concerns over lighting from the proposed development, as well as increased traffic on Dreshertown and Welsh roads.
Gundlach said BET would meet with the Montgomery County Planning Commission regarding trails, respond to township staff review letters and “revise and resubmit with responses for future meetings.”
“We do plan to set up some meetings to address residents from different locations,” he said.
“It was a good beginning,” Pollock said after the meeting. “We’re interested in sensible development. They have to consider impacts on everybody.”
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