An inter-modal truck- railway container transportation facility being proposed in Salisbury Township has again brought to light the condition of a major access road.

At issue is the condition of Riverside Drive and whether or not Lehigh County or a private company is responsible to improve it and/or maintain it.

The concerns about access to the proposed facility were raised by township planning and zoning officials.

Riverside Drive provides access for several private and public entities in Salisbury.

The inter-modal facility would be on Norfolk Southern Railway property, 1603 Constitution Drive, in the vicinity of Walking Purchase Park north of Lehigh Mountain, and across from Harris Rebar-Atlantic, 1700 Riverside Drive, and the Lehigh County Men’s Community Corrections Center, 1600 Riverside Drive, in an Industrial Zoning section of eastern Salisbury.

The Salisbury Township Planning Commission reviewed the sketch plan for the project at its Oct. 13 meeting.

The Salisbury Township Zoning Hearing Board reviewed the appeal for the plan at its Oct. 6 hearing.

Thomas Foulk, president of F&F Reload, Inc., was represented by Atty. Matthew T. Tranter, of Maloney Danyi O’Donnell & Tranter, Bethlehem, and Amit Mukherjee, principal, Base Engineering Inc., Allentown.

Consideration of the preliminary-final plan was expected to be on the agenda of the Nov. 10 planning commission meeting. However, correspondence from Tranter Nov. 10 to the township indicated a formal request for a continuence to Dec. 8. Tanter said additional time was needed to address issues and questions regarding the project.

F&F, described as a small, family-owned business operating for 30 years, has been located in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII.

F&F Reload would lease a 40.1-acre tract from Norfolk Southern. The proposed use is for a warehouse, which is permitted in the industrial zone.

An approximate 65 by 140-foot fabric tent and a 600-foot railroad siding would be constructed. Steel and plywood would be unloaded and stored before being placed on trucks for delivery.

It is estimated the facility will generate 20 trucks per day. The trucks would be 45-foot tractor trailers.

“We do have concerns about Riverside Drive, which is a private road,” Salisbury Township Director of Planning and Zoning Cynthia Sopka said at the Oct. 6 zoning hearing.

Riverside Drive provides access to Constitution Drive from the east and south side Bethlehem.

Mukherjee said he would do trip generation reports.

In his Oct. 7 review letter to the township planning commission, Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., read from 21 comments he listed concerning the F&F Reload sketch plan. No action was required by the planning commission because it was a sketch plan.

“Riverside Drive is in need of repairs and adding traffic will deteriorate it,” Tettemer said.

It was asked whether or not there has been discussion with Lehigh County officials on improvements to Riverside Drive.

“I think the township is going to get some movement on that,” Tettemer said.

Tettemer said the proposed inter-modal facility could generate 275 to 330 trucks per month.

“That’s going to really significantly start to deteriorate that [Riverside Drive],” Tettemer said.

“We’re going to need to work with the county and get that fixed. Right now the county is only patching it [Riverside Drive],” Tettemer said.

Negotiations between St. Luke’s University Health Network and Norfolk Southern to improve Riverside Drive and provide another access street to St. Luke’s University Hospital - Bethlehem in Fountain Hill stalled several years ago.

At the Oct. 6 zoning hearing, F&F Reload withdrew three zoning variance requests.

Zoners voted 5-0 to approve four zoning variance requests by F&F Reload, including: parking spaces and utilization of two 48-foot trucks, existing features of paved areas, no paved landscaping and no frontage on a public street.

There was no Nov. 4 zoning hearing because no projects were submitted.