A new Pa. Turnpike ramp connects the Fort Washington exit to a 536-acre multiuse development
Upper Dublin has pursued what one officials called an "aggressive campaign" to transform the Fort Washington office park into a multiuse development with housing, retail and recreation.
The ribbon was snipped Tuesday, and the first car, a green Audi S5 convertible, rolled down the new “zip ramp” providing direct access from the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Fort Washington interchange to a 536-acre office park redevelopment in Upper Dublin.
“This is a milestone day for Upper Dublin,” said Kurt Ferguson, executive director of the Municipal Authority, which for 10 years has managed the ongoing transformation of the underused office buildings of the former Fort Washington Industrial Park into the multiuse Greater Fort Washington District.
The authority has invested about $45 million in infrastructure to support the revitalization project, about 70% from state and county transportation and development grants, Ferguson said. That includes the 2,100-foot ramp, designed and built for about $3 million.
A Lifetime Fitness complex, new retail outlets and TruMark Credit Union headquarters have been built in the district.
Three former office properties have been converted to apartment buildings, with a fourth turned into a storage facility, Ferguson said. Upper Dublin moved the township library to Virginia Drive in the district, which includes a segment of the Cross County Trail operated by Montgomery County.
The new ramp was made possible by the turnpike’s move to open-road tolling, in which motorists pay tolls by E-ZPass or by plate while passing under gantries. Toll booths are being torn down, leaving more room at interchanges for direct-connect projects like the zip ramp.
“Open-road tolling enables us to be a better neighbor,” turnpike CEO Mark Compton said. “In terms of today’s transportation dollars, this project is not large money ... [but] it opens up economic opportunity for this community.”
The Turnpike Commission is designing a roundabout off the Mahoning Valley Interchange (Exit 74) on the Northeast Extension and plans a park-and-ride lot there.
It’s also looking to develop truck parking at the Gateway interchange (Exit 2) near the Ohio state line in Western Pennsylvania, spokesperson Marissa Orbanek said.
