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Pacilio's Pizza and Beer located near the dangerous 5 point area on Bryn Mawr Ave in Pa. ( Bonnie Weller / Staff Photographer)

READER FEEDBACK

Bryn Mawr's 'five points' will be rebuilt

By Bonnie L. Cook

Inquirer Staff Writer

If you've craved pizza while near Bryn Mawr Hospital, chances are you've pulled up to Pacilio's Pizza & Beer on Glenbrook Avenue, parked, and picked up your pie.

But easy access to Joe Byrnes' shop is going the way of the green Coca-Cola bottle, as Bryn Mawr's "five points" intersection is poised for a makeover that will route patrons around his business.

The changes - needed to improve traffic flow at the dangerous confluence of County Line Road and Bryn Mawr Avenue- will shut off street access to his shop, turning the tap on his business.

"Maybe I can adapt and make my business survive somehow," Byrnes said. "But this is my retirement. You're looking at it. Will I be ever able to sell the building?"

Construction is scheduled to begin in February and end in August. It's a collaboration among Bryn Mawr Hospital and Radnor and Lower Merion Townships, which meet at County Line Road.

Local officials and traffic experts feel Byrnes' pain, but say it is superseded by the public good. Twenty-seven accidents occurred at the corner over a recent three-year period, Radnor Township police say.

"This intersection has been a problem for years," said traffic engineer Brian Keaveney of Pennoni Associates Inc., which helped craft the intersection's makeover.

In general, he said, traffic engineers work to eliminate roads' meeting at odd angles because such angles confuse drivers. The project will:

Streamline the intersection, consisting of County Line Road and Bryn Mawr, Railroad, and Glenbrook Avenues, by closing off traffic to Glenbrook except via a traffic signal on County Line. There will be one lane into Glenbrook and one out.

Widen Bryn Mawr and County Line to allow for a dedicated left-turn lane at the mouth of each, plus a right-turn lane from Bryn Mawr onto County Line.

Close the Wawa market driveway nearest the intersection on South Bryn Mawr Avenue, leaving the two other curb cuts in place.

Add four pedestrian crossings at Bryn Mawr and County Line. A pedestrian island in the middle of the intersection will be eliminated.

Right-of-way for widening County Line west of Bryn Mawr Avenue is being donated to Lower Merion by the hospital, which also is contributing $610,000 to the project as a condition of expanding its hospital campus.

An additional $350,000 will come from Radnor and Lower Merion. V. Scott Zelov, a Lower Merion commissioner, said he likes the project because it is locally controlled and funded.

"I think it can be a model for how local governments can improve traffic flow on local roads," Zelov said.

Glenbrook Avenue neighbors worry how they will get to their homes during construction; Zelov said work would be done at night.

Hank Wilson, president of the Bryn Mawr Civic Association, lambasted officials at an Oct. 8 meeting for not crafting the project in a way that would appeal to merchants and neighbors.

"I thought this would all have been taken care of, but obviously, it hasn't been," Wilson said.

John Nagle, newly elected commissioner in Radnor's Fifth Ward, said he had followed the project's progress since an initial public meeting more than two years ago.

"I don't have a problem with the big picture," he said by phone. "What I have a problem with is the details."

He said he would consult outgoing Commissioner Ernie Shapiro to learn what arrangements had been made for access to Byrnes' shop.

"I don't think we've ever really sat down and thought fully about the problem Joe has," Nagle said.

The project calls for four parking spaces to be placed in piggyback formation just west of Pacilio's, so that delivery trucks and customers can pause and go in.

Now, customers pull in from County Line, east of Bryn Mawr, and park along the curb near or in front of Byrnes' shop. Once the project is complete, customers will have to turn into Glenbrook from County Line, then compete for one of the four piggybacked parking spots.

Zelov said a café could be set up on the sidewalk out front, but others worry about how cars can back out safely from the four parking spots onto Glenbrook. Two big signs also would be allowed to draw attention to the pizza shop.

"I think we can actually move forward as we work out some of the details," Nagle said.

Contact staff writer Bonnie L. Cook at 610-313-8232 or bcook@phillynews.com.

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Comments

Posted 07:54 AM, 11/05/2009

Obama Gonna Git You Sucka

How many Obama jobs were created "or saved"?

Posted 11:06 AM, 11/05/2009

PhillyWise

I literally work 100 yards from this intersection. It is awful during rush hour. Confused drivers is a common occurence at this intersection. An extended green for one side of traffic makes it even worse. I cannot tell you how many people do not see, or understand the meaning of "oncoming traffic has extended green". Anyway, this is over due.

Posted 11:46 AM, 11/05/2009

fishtown charlie

spaces in piggyback formation??? huh?

Posted 12:09 PM, 11/05/2009

USA

Can't wait to see the how the westbound traffic making the left onto Glenbrook "via a traffic signal on County Line" is going to work. I can't see it.

Posted 02:45 PM, 11/05/2009

etclifford3

The public good is a ridiculous concept. Here is another example of good government injuring a real man.

Posted 04:57 PM, 11/05/2009

inquisitor

tell Wawa to give up its corner to Pacilio's. not like there's a dearth of them on main line!

Posted 12:11 PM, 11/07/2009

19003

hmmmm...don't forget about the eminent domain component - Radnor's idea of negotiations with MJ Test Prep is "sign this paper or we'll take your land"....or that the ONLY reason this is happening is this is a condition of approval for Bryn Mawr Hospital with their Lower Merion development plans....riiigghhht???? And there are no plans for where the construction vehicles will park, noise levels at night, what will be done to improve Wawa's accident prone Bryn Mawr Ave ingresses and egresses,what will be done to stop people from using Landover, Moore, and Radwyn Apartments as cut through. Also night projects are even more noisy at times then day projects...why isn't hospital paying for WHOLE THING? They will put Joe out of business. He has lost tenants and a sale of the building because of this. Other businesses on Glenbrook have never been consulted, and a lot of residents knew nothing until this article came out. Thanks Inquirer, hope you follow up!

Posted 12:18 PM, 11/07/2009

19003

PS All the residents immediately affected are of modest means. They don't have the big $$ to fight city hall. Neither do small businesses owners in an economic climate like this. This is all being done to benefit a giant private non profit institution that as per the Inquirer article earlier this year showed very healthy profit margins, right? Out of curiousity, does Bryn Mawr Hospital take the uninsured and indigent if they need medical help? The poor? What kind of medical pro bono do they do? What have they done for Bryn Mawr? Isn't it strange that they take down all those houses in those affordable neighborhoods and all they have done is build surface parking and a giant garage with pricey admission that is not exactly full? What happened to that need for medical? Are parking lots and garages the new healthcare in this country or something?