2008-11-25 10:03:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster City's downtown convention center and Marriott hotel are not due to open until April, but already a change is happening — and it's a change of color. The orange Friendly Taxi cabs that have plied the streets of Lancaster and its suburbs for the last three decades a......
2008-11-19 11:05:00
RYAN ROBINSON
The state has taken some action to improve a Paradise Township intersection with one of the highest crash rates in the state. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has erected two new signs along Route 741, east and west of the intersection of Strasburg Road (Route 741) and South Belmon......
2008-11-18 11:28:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The changes on the drawing board for the Lititz Pike bridge won't stop at the end of the bridge. Included in PennDOT plans for a new $19 million bridge are the realignment of North Duke Street to the end of the bridge and the conversion of adjacent streets from one-way to two-way traffic....
2008-11-16 00:20:00
PAULA WOLF
Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines has submitted a bid to the federal Department of Transportation to bring commercial air service back to Lancaster Airport. Three other air carriers also made bids by the midnight Friday deadline. The Cape Air proposal is for five daily nonstop, round-trip flight......
2008-11-12 11:26:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Diana Zayas looks out over South Duke Street from the window of the El Malecom restaurant where she works. "People called it the ghetto. Now, it's downtown," Zayas said of the street, with its new center islands, bulb-outs on the corners and back-in angled parking. "It l......
2008-11-11 11:00:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Finally, some good news for our wallets. Gas prices are plummeting, hitting a low of $2.14 a gallon here today, the lowest level in almost four years. And some industry experts are predicting the price will continue to drop over the next few months. Folks actually were smiling as they fill......
2008-11-11 01:10:00
PATRICK BURNS
Lancaster Airport Authority is considering a proposal that would establish commercial air service from here to Baltimore/Washington International Airport.The authority listened Monday to a proposal from Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines, a company that flies fewer passengers more often on small ......
2008-11-10 11:00:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Work on the long-delayed Strasburg bypass has begun. An official groundbreaking is being planned for later this week, but contractor Pennsy Supply of Hummelstown has been pushing dirt around on the $6.1 million project since Oct. 20. Strasburg Mayor Bruce Ryder laughed when asked how he fe......
2008-10-28 10:29:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Traffic congestion, air pollution, the health effects of obesity and a stagnant economy are common problems for towns and cities nationwide. Carmel, Ind., had a simple, two-wheeled solution: promote bicycle use. The Indianapolis suburb turned an abandoned rail line into a rail-trail and es......
2008-10-20 11:10:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Thirty-seven former Friendly Transportation drivers who had driven Red Rose Access shuttle buses for the company have filed a federal lawsuit claiming the company failed to pay them as it should have. The drivers contend the company, whose corporate name is Model Management Services, failed to ......
2008-10-05 00:19:00
ANNE KOENIG, Living Editor
The 14-year-old fareboxes on the Red Rose Transit Authority buses will be replaced within the next couple of weeks with electronic swipe-card boxes. "We're hoping, by Oct. 20, to put them into effect," RRTA executive director David W. Kilmer said Monday. The current fareboxes......
2008-09-26 00:17:00
PATRICK BURNS
The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that could once again open Lancaster Airport runways for commercial air service.The legislation temporarily extends the Essential Air Service program until Sept. 30, 2009. The program provides funds to help attract commercial air service to rural ar......
2008-09-07 00:18:00
GIL SMART
The trolley stops here. For now. The head of the Lancaster Streetcar Co., the organization that wants to bring streetcars back to the City of Lancaster, said last week that the federal government will not fund the project in 2009. The Streetcar Co. had requested $14.2 million in grant......
2008-08-26 10:59:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Wendy Slominsky has to listen for traffic to cross the road near her Millersville Borough home. Slominsky must rely on her ears and her guide dog to reach the other side of North George Street and Manor Avenue. Reaching the opposite corner allows Slominsky, who is blind, to go to the grocery......
2008-08-21 01:10:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Start saving your quarters.Beginning Sept. 2, Red Rose Transit Authority will offer 25-cent rides for the entire month on all RRTA bus routes.Dave Kilmer, RRTA's executive director, unveiled the promotion Wednesday."We want the community to have a chance to try RRTA ......
2008-08-17 00:08:00
JON RUTTER
The massive yellow Terex tractor sawed its carbide-tipped blades 12 inches into the surface of Greenfield Road on a recent Wednesday and inched forward. Portland cement dust poofed into the air. The East Lampeter Township landscape trembled underfoot. Adam Hall, an engineer with Herbe......
2008-08-06 20:25:00
ROBERTA STRICKLER
Although commuting to work without a car is not new, the rising price of gas has again given it new emphasis.The issue of fossil fuel conservation has been discussed for years. Now it's urgent. The gas price hike has put commuters on their bikes and their feet on sidewalks, filled seat......
2008-08-06 20:02:00
CLAUDIA W. ESBENSHADE
Drivers these days are sharing the road with more alternative vehicles. It's important for everyone to know the rules of the road for their own safety and that of others.And with scooter accidents making headlines this summer, it's even more important for everyone to be aware of re......
2008-08-05 11:00:00
BERNARD HARRIS
When Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray met with a potential developer for the Lancaster Stockyards site last year, Gray was asked what he would like to see happen on the parcel at the city's northeast corner. The mayor's answer: Clarendon. Clarendon, Va., in Arlington County, just south of Washing......
2008-08-05 01:51:00
JEFF HAWKES
Planners are asking us to think of Harrisburg Pike as a laboratory.And you thought it was just another congested strip of Lancaster County asphalt.Well, you're right about the congested part. Up to 28,000 vehicles a day travel the section between Prince Street and Dillerville Ro......
2008-08-01 00:53:00
MICHAEL YODER
One year ago today, 13 people lost their lives when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour.In an instant, public attention was focused on the United States' infrastructure deficiencies and the dangers they pose.Since the tragedy, transportation departments ac......
2008-07-31 01:50:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The five miles of Harrisburg Pike from Prince Street in Lancaster to State Road in East Hempfield Township comprise one of the most heavily traveled stretches of road in the county.Figuring out how to accommodate all that traffic is the goal of the Harrisburg Pike Transportation and Land U......
2008-07-31 01:08:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County's public transportation program for seniors and the disabled hit a series of potholes over the past month, for many reasons.But the head of Red Rose Transit Authority said Wednesday there are no excuses.Dave Kilmer, executive director of RRTA, which administers ......
2008-07-30 11:26:00
CHAD UMBLE
The top Red Rose Transit Authority official said today there was "no excuse for the harm we caused people" earlier this month, when many elderly and disabled residents who depend on the county's shared ride service were left in the lurch. "Excuses don't cut it, they just ......
2008-07-28 11:18:00
BERNARD HARRIS
When consultants studying Harrisburg Pike drove the roadway during the peak morning and evening periods, they found what area motorists already knew was there: congestion. The five-mile trip from Prince Street in Lancaster City to State Road in East Hempfield Township took an average of 14 minu......
2008-07-28 00:04:00
CARLA DI FONZO
If any peregrine falcons or eagles are still nesting around Norman Wood Bridge over the Susquehanna River, local birder Tom Raub said they're staying out view.Of course, he said, because it's too late in the season for nesting, it's even more likely the birds have simply flown ......
2008-07-27 00:20:00
GIL SMART
Tuesday was a good day for Cynthia Handel. Her ride was actually on time. "It's a one-time-in-a-row thing," said Handel, of Willow Street, who is blind and uses the Red Rose Transit Authority's Access program to get around. The program has been plagued with problems since......
2008-07-27 00:04:00
GIL SMART
Once upon a time the future of transportation might have looked like something out of a Jetsons cartoon. A few years from now, it might look a lot like Harrisburg Pike. Or rather the "new" Harrisburg Pike, a "smart transportation" network envisioned by local planners in a landmark study to be u......
2008-07-25 11:56:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Transportation for senior citizens and disabled residents has improved, and steps are being taken to make it even better, county officials say. And some riders of Red Rose Access agree: This week, they've experienced fewer glitches. But some say there are still problems. Officials from......
2008-07-21 11:05:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Get a horse! That's what some drivers might think they should do as they pay $4.10 or more for a gallon of gas. But maybe they should think again. It's true that a new car costs nearly three times as much as a typical Lancaster County Old Order Amish horse-and-buggy rig. ......
2008-07-16 11:25:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Getting around is getting better for some local senior citizens and disabled residents. But it's far from perfect for some who use a van transportation service called Red Rose Access. Delays, mix-ups, long rides and other problems have occurred since July 1, when Easton Coach took over the......
2008-07-15 01:54:00
PATRICK BURNS
Lancaster Airport Authority agreed Monday to donate about 1.6 acres for a $995,000 project that will improve Lititz Pike just south of Millport Road.The intermunicipal project spearheaded by the Lancaster County Transportation Authority will raise and widen the southbound lane of Lititz Pi......
2008-07-12 01:47:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Red Rose Transit Authority's expansion plans for the Queen Street station could take a big step forward, thanks to preliminary approval of federal funding.Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey announced Friday that 17 Pennsylvania transportation and housing projects were approved by the U.......
2008-07-08 11:16:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Things are looking up for senior citizens and disabled residents who use a transportation service here. Last week, those people experienced delayed and missed pickups, early drop-offs at sites that had not opened yet and long rides on Red Rose Access vans. The service has improved this ......
2008-07-03 13:36:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Getting around the county for some elderly people turned into a nightmare this week, when a new company took over a shared-ride service for the Red Rose Transit Authority. Two people, including a woman in her 90s, were stuck on Red Rose Access vans for as long as five hours on their way home fr......
2008-06-27 12:07:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Traffic fatalities in Lancaster County this year are down, in line with a national trend. Twenty-five people have died so far this year as a result of accidents on county roads, newspaper records show. That's down from 32 killed by this time last year, a 22 percent drop. It's the l......
2008-06-24 10:09:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County receives about $70 million a year to spend on transportation improvements. How best to spend that federal and state money now and into the future is the focus of the county's Long Range Transportation Plan, approved Monday by the multi-agency Metropolitan Planning Organization.......
2008-06-18 09:50:00
CHAD UMBLE
Lancaster County Commissioners helped put 14 transportation projects across the county on the road to completion today. During their regular meeting, commissioners approved 14 grants totaling $1.5 million to install traffic lights, widen roads, add sidewalks, replace bridges, among other projec......
2008-06-18 00:35:00
P.J. REILLY
The Amtrak train station in Elizabethtown has seen a lot of traffic in recent years.With gas prices climbing, it could get busier.Even if use of the station doesn't increase, borough officials recognize it needs a facelift.Its platforms are badly in need of repair, its pa......
2008-06-13 01:00:00
TOM KNAPP
A dedication ceremony in Columbia Borough on Thursday was bracketed, aptly enough, by the arrival of buses.Columbia, which is working hard to reinvent itself as the jewel of western Lancaster County, unveiled a new improvement to its downtown business district to acclaim from several state......
2008-05-25 00:18:00
GIL SMART
Start at Village Grande, along Harrisburg Pike in East Hempfield Township. Say you live in the neighborhood, and have an appointment at the Lancaster General Health Campus, less than half a mile away. In theory, you could walk, but there are no sidewalks. Sauntering along the busy road, you tak......
2008-05-23 11:23:00
STAFF
The state Transportation Department wants to repair, replace or remove 33 Lancaster County bridges, as part of a statewide effort by the Rendell administration to upgrade Pennsylvania's transportation system.You can see exactly which bridges in your community are targeted for......
2008-05-22 11:00:00
BERNARD HARRIS
With additional funding available from the federal government, the Red Rose Transit Authority's board voted Wednesday to trim a July 1 fare increase and expand service beginning Aug. 25. The board approved a 15-cent increase for riders in each of the public bus system's four zones, down......
2008-05-22 01:47:00
P.J. REILLY
The top goal of Lancaster County's Transportation Improvement Plan is clear: fix local bridges.Dave Royer, director of transportation for the county planning commission, said that priority comes straight from Gov. Ed Rendell."We're definitely focusing on our existing in......
2008-05-22 01:42:00
JENNIFER TODD
Route 30 East is Lancaster County's most recognizable and most visited tourist destination, but the bustling corridor is quickly losing its identity as a thriving business district.That's the conclusion of a new county-level look at the highway.A lack of coordinated planning......
2008-05-15 11:10:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Many Lancaster residents drive out of their way to avoid the conglomeration of commerce along the "Route 30 tourist strip." Too much traffic. Too many signs. Too much haphazard development. Too little scenery worth seeing. It doesn't have to be that way, county planners say. ......
2008-05-15 11:30:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Keith Hufford rolls his bicycle into the door of Lancaster's Amtrak station and in seconds, he has folded it into a tight package of metal bars, wheels and gears. Within minutes of leaving his North Charlotte Street home, Hufford is standing on the platform, folded bicycle in hand, waiti......
2008-05-11 00:20:00
GIL SMART
Dianne Mousley's had enough. Every day, she drives the Fruitville Pike from her home in Manheim Township to her job in Lancaster. Every day it's the same: Start. Stop. Red light after red light along one of the county's busiest corridors — a corridor that, she thinks, might be......
2008-05-09 12:12:00
BERNARD HARRIS
It may be years away — if ever — before streetcars again rumble through the streets of Lancaster City, but a group organized to establish a streetcar system has already made its first purchase. The non-profit Lancaster Streetcar Company has bought a 52-year-old streetcar with the in......
2008-05-02 09:29:00
STAFF
A school bus believed to be carrying children was involved in a minor accident with a sport-utility vehicle at West Vine and and South Water streets shortly before 8 a.m. today. City police declined to give any information about the accident at the scene. LaRonda Reid, 37, of Lancaster,......
2008-05-01 00:53:00
MICHAEL YODER
A wheelchair-bound woman was struck by a school bus Wednesday afternoon along North Duke Street in Lancaster.Witnesses said the woman, who was identified by friends as Terry, was headed north on Duke Street, crossing in the crosswalk at the intersection of New Street, near Lancaster Genera......
2008-04-29 11:05:00
BERNARD HARRIS
State transportation officials will repair or replace 58 bridges across Lancaster County in the next four years under a proposed plan. The focus on "structurally deficient" bridges comes following the deadly collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis last year. The tragedy gave urgency to a state stud......
2008-04-18 10:34:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly for a bill that may save Lancaster County bus riders a quarter or more per ride. The Senate vote allows a temporary fix for transit funding for smaller public transit agencies, such as the Red Rose Transit Authority. It would allow RRTA to u......
2008-04-17 12:03:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The Red Rose Transit Authority is considering increasing bus fares by 25 cents for all its zones to cover its increased fuel costs, the public transit agency announced today. Under a fare structure proposed to RRTA board members Wednesday evening: • Fares for fixed-route bus service w......
2008-04-15 14:42:00
TIM MEKEEL
The ailing owner of Yellow Transportation and Roadway is proposing a complex regional reorganization that would shrink its dwindling presence in East Petersburg by 82 jobs overall. Trucking giant YRC Worldwide has told union leaders it wants to pull 155 Yellow jobs out of the Route 72 terminal ......
2008-04-15 01:11:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Four elementary school students were hospitalized Monday when the school bus in which they were riding collided with a sport utility vehicle in East Lampeter Township, officials said.The injured children were among a group of about 30 Smoketown Elementary School students who were riding th......
2008-04-12 00:52:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The hotly contested race to win the GOP nomination for the state Senate seat in the 13th District got hotter Friday as accusations flew regarding the candidates' latest financial disclosures.Of specific interest to many was the report of West Lampeter Township supervisor Lloyd K. Smuck......
2008-04-07 00:06:00
JAMES BUESCHER
The Route 30 corridor east of Lancaster city serves as a gateway to the region for millions of visitors every year, but what greets them is a congested commercial landscape.County officials hope a consulting firm's study will reveal ways to reinvigorate the strip of hotels, outlet mall......
2008-04-02 02:26:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
It's time again to draw your attention to recent news items, which are much funnier than anything I can come up with.I see where Armstrong World Industries is eliminating 100 more jobs.I find this story amazing. I didn't think Armstrong, once a major source of employment in Lancaste......
2008-03-25 10:10:00
ROCHELLE A. SHENK
Work on the final phase of the multi-year project to restore the Manheim Railroad Station to its 1881 exterior appearance began earlier this month. The building, at 210 S. Charlotte St., serves as the headquarters of the Manheim Historical Society. The project to restore the station began in 20......
2008-03-24 10:47:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Motorists are wincing at the pump this week as average gas prices hover just below the record high of $3.28 per gallon. But just imagine if you bought your fuel by the tanker load. The Red Rose Transit Authority — which burns about a tanker truck load of diesel a week in its buses &m......
2008-03-19 09:36:00
CHAD UMBLE
A $12 million renovation and upgrade of the Lancaster Amtrak station is on track to finally begin this fall. Today, Lancaster County Commissioners committed their remaining share of $400,000 pledged toward the project, a move that will trigger the release of $11.6 million in state and federal m......
2008-03-18 11:34:00
BERNARD HARRIS and RYAN ROBINSON
Columbia and Gap are the apparent winners and proponents of a new Route 23 in eastern Lancaster County are the losers in the latest slicing up of the transportation-funding pie. A draft plan released Monday by the Lancaster County Planning Commission shows funding for the relocation of Route 44......
2008-03-15 00:40:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Amish taxi drivers will make their case before the Public Utility Commission next week, saying assessed fees, which have risen as much as 320 percent, are much too high.•••Amish taxi drivers, faced with huge increases in the fees they p......
2008-03-13 11:01:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Continuing the study of Route 23 or building a new Route 441 around Columbia — pick one. That is the funding dilemma being placed before transportation planners. As the state shifts funding to the repair of structurally deficient bridges, money allocated for other projects is being c......
2008-03-12 01:20:00
TOM KNAPP
A new route designed to take truck traffic around Columbia Borough instead of through it is taking shape, but officials are still waiting to see if Harrisburg will pony up the funds to pay for it."We're going ahead, with the understanding that the financial issue will work itself ......
2008-03-10 01:01:00
PATRICK BURNS
The price of diesel fuel hit an all-time high in Lancaster County on Sunday as it soared to an average of $3.99 per gallon, according to AAA.The high cost has hurt truck drivers, who were conspicuously absent Sunday from the usually busy 222 Travel Plaza truck stop in Ephrata."......
2008-03-09 00:20:00
GIL SMART
Spring is just around the corner. Be prepared to stop. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation kicks off its 2008 season Monday with two big projects getting under way. The first, and one of the most expensive projects planned in the county this year, is $11.36 million in improv......
2008-02-28 10:31:00
BERNARD HARRIS
To anyone who will listen, Leo Lutz has a plea: Help save his town. The Columbia mayor this week took that message to the county transportation planners and the county commissioners. Lutz is pushing for the relocation of Route 441 around Columbia Borough. Last week, he learned the bypass w......
2008-02-28 01:01:00
P.J. REILLY
Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz says his town has invested 10 years and millions of dollars in an effort to build a bypass and move the truck traffic on Route 441 out of the borough.Though PennDOT has proposed putting the $18 million project on the back burner, Lutz is mounting a campaign to convi......
2008-02-19 10:51:00
BERNARD HARRIS
A new Route 30 from Ronks to Gap could be pushed back — way, way back. And a proposed Columbia bypass and reconstruction of the Centerville Road/Route 30 interchange would likely share the same fate under a redrafting of Lancaster County's Transportation Improvement Plan....
2008-02-15 01:40:00
PATRICK BURNS
The U.S. Senate Thursday passed legislation that could reinstate the Essential Air Service program at Lancaster Airport.The bill, if signed by President Bush, would extend the EAS program one year at Lancaster and provide funds to subsidize commercial air service for the area.Lancas......
2008-02-01 02:18:00
JEFF HAWKES
These uncertain economic times heighten the urgency of the task businessman and longtime civic leader James Shultz is shouldering.Shultz, development manager for Charter Homes, is co-chairing a first-ever effort to quantify the strengths and weaknesses of Lancaster County's transitioni......
2008-02-01 01:27:00
MICHAEL YODER
Transportation officials discussed ways to change mindsets when it comes to infrastructure and land development so that roads and bridges can be maintained and fewer cars crowd the roads.•••Traffic is increasing, budgets are shrinking a......
2008-01-25 01:37:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
To some students of the American Civil War, Gen. Robert E. Lee was a brilliant general whose masterful handling of the Army of Northern Virginia almost won independence for the South.To local author Edward H. Bonekemper, Lee was a good general but overrated; a man whose unyielding focus on......
2008-01-07 00:27:00
STAFF REPORTS
Repairs to the Route 30 bridge between Lancaster and York counties will restrict travel for much of today.Greg Penny, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, issued an announcement Friday that eastbound travel will be limited to a single lane beginning at 9 a.m. today, weathe......
2008-01-04 01:30:00
JENNIFER TODD
New crosswalk signals in the city, which tell pedestrians exactly how much time they have to cross the street, are getting rave reviews."We've gotten a lot of positive feedback," Charlotte Katzenmoyer, the city's director of public works, said Thursday of the signals. &qu......
2007-12-30 00:11:00
PAULA WOLF
The word "workshop" can conjure up images of boring informational handouts, and speakers who specialize in putting people to sleep. The experience doesn't usually involve trying to push open a swinging door while sitting in a wheelchair, or walking around a mini-obstacle course wh......
2007-12-12 12:23:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
It was early Sunday morning, and she knew the store where she was headed was "going to be mobbed" within just a few hours. Stacy Detwiler, of Lancaster, was waiting as her bus came rolling through the mist and fog alongside Lancaster's Hotel Brunswick. Also waiting were four ......
2007-12-11 12:05:00
BERNARD HARRIS
It's official, we're breathing a little easier in Lancaster County. The federal Environmental Protection Agency upgraded its designation of Lancaster County's air quality from "marginal nonattainment" to "attainment area." The county had failed the federa......
2007-12-11 11:58:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Even through last week's falling snow, Ed Arnold didn't have any problem seeing the traffic signals across George Street on the edge of Millersville. The signals' visibility has been markedly improved by the installation of a new black background behind the red-yellow-green arrangem......
2007-12-11 00:45:00
MICHAEL YODER
A school bus contracted by School District of Lancaster was involved in an early morning crash Monday in East Lampeter Township.The bus, carrying 28 students from Lancaster Mennonite School, Locust Grove School and Seventh Day Adventist School, was rear-ended on Route 462 near the entrance......
2007-11-18 00:08:00
GIL SMART
As Lancaster's fledgling streetcar initiative rolls along, a new group had clambered on board. The Lancaster Streetcar Co., the non-profit group formed to study whether a $14.1 million, 2.6-mile trolley loop could work in the city, has added several members to its board of directors, some o......
2007-11-17 12:23:00
TOM MURSE
Joe Torres had the right idea. The 18-year-old Franklin & Marshall College freshman, two stuffed suitcases in tow, was boarding an Amtrak train early this morning for Philadelphia, where he was to hop in a taxi to the airport and fly to Los Angeles. Torres is headed home for the Thanks......
2007-11-08 01:40:00
LORI VAN INGEN
When Rick Gray was campaigning door-to-door, he heard residents from the city's northeast and southwest complaining that they felt left out, that their needs were not being addressed.Gray, now the city's mayor, made a commitment to do something about that."I thought we'd do somethin......
2007-11-06 01:03:00
P.J. REILLY
Over the past 25 years, the number of miles vehicles have traveled on county roads has doubled.Amtrak ridership is up.But the number of Red Rose bus passengers is declining.So say local transportation statistics, according to Brian Funkhouser, a consultant with Gannett Flemin......
2007-11-05 11:50:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County travelers will have the opportunity to weigh in on transportation projects at a series of public meetings. And, for the first time, they will be able to make their views known immediately through the use of hand-held wireless devices. During the forums to update the county......
2007-11-05 00:06:00
TOM KNAPP
The history of warfare is linked indelibly to transportation.From aircraft and naval vessels to jeeps and motorbikes, the military always has had to find better ways to get where it needs to go. That's where the histories of trains and troops overlap."Railroads really were ......
2007-10-30 02:30:00
PATRICK BURNS
People formed multiple lines on the third floor of Lancaster General Health Campus Main Building about 15 minutes before Monday's meeting to discuss a study of Harrisburg Pike traffic.Eventually, about 110 area residents filtered into the meeting, where they got to look at preliminary ......
2007-10-29 11:34:00
ANYA LITVAK
Five candidates are seeking three county commissioner seats in the Nov. 6 election. They are Republicans Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey, Democrats Molly Henderson and Craig Lehman and Independent Jere Swarr. Starting today, the New Era is running a five-part series with the candidates' r......
2007-10-25 01:39:00
JENNIFER TODD
Two years after the completion of Red Rose Transit Authority's downtown terminal, office space above the station is ready for lease.The offices were not completed until this summer because there was not enough money to finish the space as part of the original terminal project, accordin......
2007-09-29 11:57:00
TIM MEKEEL
A new commercial airline probably will be cleared for takeoff at Lancaster Airport much sooner than expected. Action by Congress late Thursday set in motion a complex procedure that could bring a new carrier here in three months, rather than the four-to-six months originally predicted. &qu......
2007-09-26 11:01:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Motorists long-accustomed to seeing red on four of the county's main traffic corridors may see more green on the distant horizon. Lancaster County transportation planners on Monday approved funding for traffic-signal coordination on Centerville Road, Columbia Avenue, Rohrerstown Road and Lititz......
2007-09-23 00:18:00
GIL SMART
Paula Jackson remembers standing in an orange vest along South Queen Street near Engleside, flagging down truckers. Not that she needed a ride. She just wondered where they were headed. It was 2002, and city and county officials were concerned about truck traffic on Lancaster streets. Resi......
2007-09-21 11:10:00
BERNARD HARRIS
After more than three years of negotiations, the $40 million plan to relocate the Dillerville rail yard is slowly chugging forward. Franklin & Marshall College is orchestrating the move of the freight switching yard from the site along Harrisburg Avenue to a location behind the main Lancast......
2007-09-14 01:14:00
PATRICK BURNS
Thanks, but no thanks.That's the message Gov. Ed Rendell's administration sent in answer to Sen. Arlen Specter's push to procure $11.2 million in federal funds for the proposed Corridor One rail project.On Sept. 7, at the Harrisburg Transportation Center, Specter said funding looked......
2007-09-12 11:35:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Sen. Arlen Specter is doing his best to keep plans for the CorridorOne commuter rail line alive. Appearing at a press conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's senior senator said he is working to arrange for $11.2 million for the rail line from Lancaster to Harrisburg. The show of s......
2007-09-11 00:01:00
PATRICK BURNS
Lancaster Airport Authority said it is aggressively seeking a commercial air carrier to replace outgoing Mesa Airlines, whose contract ends Sept. 30.At the authority's monthly meeting Monday, Joyce Opp, airport finance and marketing director, said she has had talks with Gulfstream Internat......
2007-09-07 11:08:00
TIM MEKEEL
Temporary inconvenience, permanent improvement. Lancaster Airport will lose commercial flights to Pittsburgh Sept. 30, grounding service here for four to six months, airport officials said today. But officials voiced hope that they'll land a new commercial airline that will fly......
2007-09-07 11:07:00
BERNARD HARRIS
A new Route 23, if it ever happens, won't be built until 2012, the latest planning schedule shows. Consultants studying the project notified public officials this week — before two county commissioners expressed opposition to building a new road — that the timeline for the proje......
2007-09-06 11:25:00
RYAN ROBINSON and ANYA LITVAK
Two county commissioners are dropping support for a new Route 23 in eastern Lancaster County. Commissioners Molly Henderson and Sharron Nelson said they planned to tell the state transportation department today that they do not want a new highway built. The commissioners' lack of su......
2007-09-03 00:12:00
P.J. REILLY
The proposed Corridor One rail system would cost taxpayers too much money and is likely a dead project.Citing Capital Area Transit projections that the proposed Corridor One line would carry 444 daily one-way passengers between Lancaster and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Transportation Secretar......
2007-09-01 12:35:00
TOM MURSE
Yo. Scofflaws. The days when you can just park your cars willy-nilly on city streets, shrug off the meters and tear up those small pink tickets tucked in your windshield wipers — and get away with it — appear to be numbered. Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, working with state lawmake......
2007-09-01 12:25:00
ANYA LITVAK
Jenna Geiter is a sweet and polite 14-year-old girl, with purple toe-nail polish and neat braids freshly woven for her first day of high school. In her raspy voice, Jenna says things like "okey dokey artichokey," and talks about her new sneakers, a pair of Champs, for her first day of......
2007-08-29 11:32:00
MEAGAN INGERSON
The bells rang and the big yellow buses rolled in this morning at Conestoga Valley schools, the latest county district to start the school year. Opening day's first hours went smoothly at the district's high school, middle school, and four elementary schools, Superintendent Gerald Huesken sa......
2007-08-15 00:08:00
WES BURDINE
After months of wishful thinking, Providence supervisors have resigned themselves to leaving Fairview Road in the hands of the state.The supervisors met with PennDOT officials last month to continue talks on transferring ownership of the road to the township.The transfer was to incl......
2007-08-14 11:19:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell this morning announced statewide funding of $2 million for welfare-to-work transit. Lancaster County's portion of that amount is $30,000 to the local mass transit agency, the Red Rose Transit Authority. "That's good. That will help keep that program going," sai......
2007-08-06 11:20:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Federal legislators took a step Friday toward keeping the buses running in Lancaster. A small step, anyway. The U.S. House of Representatives passed amendments to the federal transportation act that would allow Lancaster's Red Rose Transit Authority and transit agencies in other sma......
2007-08-02 11:20:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray quietly rolled his little black motor scooter into a spot in the city's Prince Street Parking Garage on Wednesday, removed his helmet and was on his way to the office. Well, almost. First, Gray had to stop and have his photo taken. The mayor is hoping that ......
2007-08-01 11:06:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
It stretches from the heart of the cityscape, past Lancaster County's largest mall and other major traffic producers, and into the heart of the countryside. It's a major gateway into the city, "and it certainly has changed more than any other traffic corridor than I can think of......
2007-07-27 11:46:00
TIM MEKEEL
Keep on trucking?Not Alcoa. The local plant is spending $2.4 million to build another railroad spur, so it can begin to use railroad cars to bring in a kind of aluminum ingot. The project, part of $14 million being invested to upgrade the 1480 Manheim Pike complex, will replace 5,000 tr......
2007-07-25 01:38:00
P.J. REILLY
Large trucks rumbling through downtown Lancaster on Route 222 have been irritating city drivers for decades.Municipal and county planners frequently have discussed the idea of providing a bypass around Lancaster for those trucks.If only John Nolan's vision for city transportatio......
2007-07-17 01:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state House and Senate Monday approved a $27.2 billion state budget, more than two weeks after a deadline imposed by the state constitution.The budget — which would run until June 30, 2008, and raise spending by about 3.2 percent over the 2006-07 spending plan — now goes to......
2007-07-14 01:20:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Two area transportation projects are listed for major funding, but a few more hurdles must be cleared before the money rolls in.On Friday, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter announced $11.2 million has been earmarked for final design and construction of the Corridor One project, a proposed commuter r......
2007-07-13 16:40:00
STAFF REPORT
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved three major projects for Lancaster County, including more than $11 million for a high-speed rail service between Lancaster and Harrisburg.U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a member of the Appropriations Committee, and junior Sen. Bob Casey Jr. a......
2007-07-05 13:28:00
JANET KELLEY
A young Ronks woman remained hospitalized in serious condition today from injuries sustained when a truck hit the horse-drawn buggy she was riding in on Tuesday morning. Marian Stoltzfoos, 22, was driving the buggy eastbound on Route 340 in Leacock Township around 9 a.m. when a truck, driven......
2007-07-01 00:15:00
GIL SMART
When Clipper Magazine Stadium opened to cheers, members of the Bring Back Baseball Committee were hailed for their efforts and their success. And it was a success. But it was one, said Jack Howell, that was 15 years in coming. Neither Rome nor minor league ballparks, nor any other community ame......
2007-06-29 02:26:00
MICHAEL YODER
Mass transit in Pennsylvania faces higher operating costs and rule changes in legislation, but lawmakers and the public are striking back to keep local buses running.State Rep. John Bear announced Thursday the start of a feasibility study to look at ridership on the Red Rose Transit Author......
2007-06-26 12:50:00
BERNARD HARRIS
A decade after it was first proposed, renovation of Lancaster City's Amtrak station may be coming around the bend. Station improvements, expected to cost more than $12 million, are on track to go to bid by the end of this year. Construction could start in the spring. Under that schedule, A......
2007-06-15 13:58:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Planners of a new Lancaster City parking garage went to the history books before going to the drawing table. Plans for the 490-space parking garage being presented by the Lancaster Parking Authority are unlike the modern-looking facilities built by the authority in the past. Ins......
2007-06-15 01:57:00
PATRICK BURNS
Lancaster Airport Authority is hoping to secure a new commercial air service contract before its current provider departs in September.Air Midwest, a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, cited escalating fuel costs for its decision to pull out of more than a dozen small markets across the country......
2007-06-14 16:06:00
TIM MEKEEL
One way or another, Lancaster Airport's commercial service is going to change this fall. A new carrier might provide flights to a different city, rather than Pittsburgh. Or commercial service might stop altogether, dredging up memories of the 18-month hiatus earlier this decade. But c......
2007-06-08 14:55:00
TOM MURSE and JENNA SPINELLE
Hooked on text-messaging? Before you get behind the wheel of a car you might soon have to send your pals a short note: l8r g8r. As in, bcnu. Or, bye-bye. Some Pennsylvania lawmakers want to make it illegal to read or send text messages on cell phones, BlackBerrys&nbs......
2007-05-19 00:05:00
PATRICK BURNS
Citing exorbitant fuel prices, escalating employee health insurance costs and inflexible government regulation, the Red Rose Transit Authority Board has raised bus fare rates.Beginning July 1, the cost of single-fare tickets will go up an average of 7.5 percent, 10-trip tickets will rise a......
2007-05-15 01:11:00
JEFF HAWKES
The Willow Street bus is not a frill.Thirty-year-old Nathaniel Schick of East Clay Street depends on it to get to Willow Valley, where he's a cook, and Steve Brown, 48, of Willow Street, takes it twice a week into town to socialize in a mental-health program that he says "helps keep us out......
2007-05-11 02:44:00
Larry Alexander
Providing more funding to mass-transportation agencies to cover operating expenses isn't just about getting more people to ride the bus.It's about saving jobs, officials say.That was the thrust of a news conference Thursday morning at Red Rose Transportation Authority's new Queen St......
2007-05-10 01:19:00
P.J. Reilly
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray today will join Gov. Ed Rendell and the mayors of 21 Pennsylvania cities in making a united plea to the state Legislature to fund public transportation."In this day and age, with traffic and the cost of gas, to cut back on public transportation just doesn'......
2007-05-03 13:43:00
Staff Report
The county commissioners awarded $1.5 million in municipal transportation grants Wednesday, to support 12 separate projects and fund the Red Rose Transit Authority. The meeting also decided the fate of the facade of the old almshouse at Conestoga View Nursing Home. Complete HealthCare Resou......
2007-04-25 14:39:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Facing a $1 million budget deficit, the Red Rose Transit Authority may need to cut six bus routes in the county along with the Red Rose Trolley. The routes would include Elizabethtown, Willow Street, Lititz, Elm Avenue/Parkside, Grandview/Rossmere and White Horse. David Kilmer, RRTA execut......
2007-04-25 00:45:00
Michael Yoder
Ruth Secamiglio moved from Strasburg to Willow Street a few years ago to be closer to a bus route that would take her to a job in Lancaster city.She learned Monday from her bus driver that the Willow Street route, along with six other bus routes in Lancaster County, might be eliminated bec......
2007-04-20 14:47:00
CHAD UMBLE
Yellow Transportation has dropped its plans to eliminate 126 jobs at its East Petersburg terminal, the trucking company told employees Thursday. The plan, originally presented in November, would have moved local employees to Yellow terminals in Hagerstown, Md., Philadelphia or Baltimore. &......
2007-03-30 01:21:00
Jennifer Todd
Shortly after noon Thursday, Kathleen Lawler received the call she had been waiting for."I have your dog," said the man, a truck driver who said he saw the golden retriever/Rottweiler mix just off Manheim Pike near Flory Mill Road. About 20 minutes later, Lawler had Gideon in her......
2007-03-23 00:01:00
Staff Report
The Red Rose Transit Authority Board approved extending the RRTA Access to Jobs program until June 30 at its monthly board meeting Wednesday. Customers who have been using the program will be able to continue using it until June 30, when RRTA's fiscal year ends.RRTA's Access to Jobs progra......
2007-03-22 01:39:00
Dave Pidgeon
Gov. Ed Rendell made a stop in Lancaster city Wednesday to build support for his plan to fix Pennsylvania's deteriorating highways and bridges and fund mass-transit systems across the state.The governor's message, delivered in Southern Market Center, was simple: "We need to im......
2007-03-22 00:59:00
Larry Alexander
Lancaster city planners voted Wednesday to recommend that City Council join nine — possibly 10 — county municipalities in adopting a comprehensive growth plan.•••The plan is called Growing Together, and Lancaster city's planning commissi......
2007-03-09 15:40:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Agriculture funding cuts and new initiatives proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell will hurt Pennsylvania farmers. That's what several seemingly frustrated county Republican legislators told local farm leaders Thursday at an Agricultural Issues Forum breakfast meeting at the Farm and Home Center. Th......
2007-02-22 01:36:00
Larry Alexander
Lancaster City Planning Commission gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a $10 million plan that would convert a vacant warehouse and storefronts into commercial and housing space.The commission's approval is the first hurdle for redevelopment of the former James F. Wild auto-parts pr......
2007-02-15 01:38:00
Michael Yoder
In an age of heightened security at airports, no one is immune from scrutiny – even a U.S. Marine.Derek Smith, a 19-year-old graduate of Penn Manor High School and recent graduate of boot camp for the U.S. Marines, found out the hard way Feb. 5 at Lancaster Airport.Smith was l......
2006-11-18 23:48:11
Marty Crisp
Thousands of parents at the 21st Hempfield Fall Classic on Saturday have invested their time, and their kids’ time, in the game beloved by the global community but not a “money sport” in the USA.
These parents are deeply involved in their soccer club communities, creating spread-out villa...
2006-10-28 01:59:17
Larry Alexander
The station at 210 S. Charlotte St., which served the Manheim community from 1881, when it was built, until 1976, when it closed, will host a grand reopening from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
“Everyone is welcome,” said Bea Kreiner, curator of Manheim Historical Society, which bought the building in t...
2005-10-27 13:16:07
Cindy Stauffer
But there’s something else going on at the pumps. And it’s no cause for celebration. While gas prices have dropped in the past month, diesel prices have remained persistently high. In fact, the price has risen slightly since September. And even if you don’t drive an 18-wheeler, you’re payin......
2005-09-24 21:38:13
Patricia Poist
The award-winning US Airways Attache´ in-flight magazine is profiling the county in a 20-page article for its October edition, said Carsten Morgan, Northeast regional sales director for Pace In-Flight Media, the magazine’s publisher.
Pace officials and writer Jeff Widmer of Easton worked ...
2005-08-03 13:11:48
Cindy Stauffer
Nearby is space for two incubators for premature babies, enough liquid oxygen to last 17 hours and a refrigerator for blood, medicine and baby formula. Oh yeah, and a pull-down video screen so kids can watch movies, if they’re feeling up to it. Penn State Children’s Hospital today showed off i......
2005-07-06 15:47:16
Jennifer Todd, Assistant Editor, Jtodd.eph@lnpnews.com
On that particular Sunday evening, she went bowling with Stephen Stone, who she had met only a few days prior. The two then decided to go over to Lititz to see the new home where Stephen, his mother and his younger brother, Shawn, were planning to move.
Shawn called his friend Nick Lausch and...
2005-06-24 13:28:32
Dom Yanchunas
In addition to filling up his personal vehicle, Williams must buy gas for his Big Daddy’s Van Service and also pumps fuel into the tractor-trailer he drives. He has some choice words about the recent hikes in gas and diesel prices. “They’re ridiculous,” Williams, 45, said while filling up his ......
2005-06-24 13:21:29
Dom Yanchunas
In addition to filling up his personal vehicle, Williams must buy gas for his Big Daddy’s Van Service and also pumps fuel into the tractor-trailer he drives. He has some choice words about the recent hikes in gas and diesel prices. “They’re ridiculous,” Williams, 45, said while filling up his ......
2005-04-14 14:38:49
Mildred’s family and friends established the Mildred L. Bender Memorial Fund in 1995 as a tribute to the former Manor resident. The Fund has a twofold purpose: first to provide financial assistance to those in need and second to honor annually a resident, a volunteer, and an employee who exemplify t...
2005-02-03 09:16:37
Paula Holzman
It could happen in 2006. It could happen in 2007.
Jim Lutz doesn't know when the bottom will begin to fall out for Red Rose Transit Authority's funding.
The RRTA director does know it probably will happen sometime in the near future - that is, unless residents band together......
2005-01-13 12:45:36
Ryan Robinson
Terry Spahr of El Segundo, Calif., transports his entire farm — dairy bank barn, farmhouse, milking house, hog pen, chicken house and several other buildings and their contents. For the second year in a row, the master modeler’s miniature toy farm is a huge hit near the butter sculpture in the Ma......
2004-12-21 09:47:33
Charles Lardner
When Lancaster County Board of Commissioners last week voted to approve the county's 2005 budget, they cut 10 of the 19 transportation projects recommended in June by professional transportation planners of the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization.
In response, MPO m......
2004-11-30 09:30:44
Jeff Hawkes
First, of course, the county is losing a talented, committed and well-respected community leader, someone who since 1988 has been the consummate team player in patiently, steadfastly building a consensus across the county for smart growth.
As a shaper of the county's future, the b......
2004-09-30 13:00:11
Cindy Stauffer
The hospital’s Women’s Place will care for women who are having babies, undergoing gynecological procedures or recovering from surgeries. They will be cared for in a building that is connected to the northern end of the $60 million hospital, which opened in August. The opening of the center ge......
2004-09-03 10:52:21
Rochelle A. Shenk
Raneri, the founder of No More Dirty Blinds, a cleaning service for blinds, decided to change all that.
She noted that many times even the most fastidious of housekeeper might forget about cleaning the blinds.
“Most people don’t regularly dust or clean their blinds. Mine hung for s....
2004-06-10 09:02:44
P.j. Reilly
As the two of us enjoyed rides, such as Great Bear and Lightning Racer, and stuffed our faces with burgers and ice cream, I couldn't help but think what life would have been like had things gone differently than they did on that same date 60 years earlier.
I awoke at 7 a.m. on Sun......
2004-02-16 10:15:46
Patrick Burns
Clair Brothers' staff
was also present when 11 young fans were crushed to death in 1979 during a human stampede at a Who concert in Cincinnati. They saw the arson and looting that erupted at Woodstock II destroy its equipment, and they created one of the first overhead speaker systems ......
2003-11-08 12:34:05
Bernard Harris
Giving citizens more input into transportation decisions was the recommendation of a recent federal review of Lancaster County's Transportation practices. Following that advice, county officials are forming a Transportation Citizen Advisory Committee.
The committee, composed of about 10 p...
2003-09-21 10:21:56
Stephen Kopfinger
The president of High Real Estate Group, Cooley also serves as president of Penn Square General Corp., which heads a partnership set to build a $45 million Marriott hotel at the site of the former Watt & Shand department store on Penn Square. The hotel would adjoin a proposed 200,000-square-...
2003-08-18 13:48:40
David O'connor
Pinkerton asked Ginder if she had any experience in the fast-paced type of work. "I told her no, but I learn quickly,'' Ginder recalls.
Ginder has indeed worked as a server for the Gathering Place for several years, but it's not her only gig, besides being Mount Joy's mayor.
She's ...
2003-06-26 10:07:52
Tom Knapp
But that doesn't mean they're content to let emergency and inpatient services disappear entirely from the community, either.
Mayor Leo Lutz said Wednesday that officials are "exploring the possibility of another business or another hospital group purchasing the hospital. Those ......
2003-06-09 11:35:21
"As more reports come it," the communique said, "it appears that the enemy damage is very heavy, indeed, involving several ships in each of the... classes.
"This damage is far out of proportion to that which we have received."
Except for a few ineffectual shots from a......
2003-04-11 15:27:46
Cindy Stauffer
As the tide appeared to turn in the war this week, the anxiety that has plagued the families of local soldiers is starting to be replaced with a new emotion.
Hope.
"You do feel relieved,'' said Jack "Butch'' Yoder of Lititz, the father of 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Barnaby Yoder...
