To the Editor:

The traffic on the corner of new Seemsville Road and Route 329 keeps getting heavier and heavier, and most of the warehouses in the area are still not occupied.

Fast forward to the warehouses being up and running. There are 800 tractor-trailers a day with 1,600 trips in and out proposed at the Jaindl warehouse, 250 tractor-trailers a day with 500 trips from the one behind ACE Hardware, 250 tractor-trailers a day with 500 trips from the one already built at Route 329 and Airport Road and another under construction across the street. So far, we’re up to 2,600 tractor-trailers a day, with more still coming. Now add the FedEx trucks, the dump trucks hauling for Northampton Generating - and let’s not forget the school buses all traveling Seemsville Road.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic now. What then?

Tractor-trailer accidents in the area have increased, retreads along our roads are surfacing and traffic tie-ups during certain hours are fact. When is enough enough?

And now, with all this information, the Northampton school board voted 5-4 to build a new elementary school on the corner of new Seemsville Road and Route 329 and possibly close the Moore Elementary School on Route 946 where there is little traffic and no nearby warehouses, and then bus all those elementary children - ages 5 to 11 - to other schools.

Is this really keeping our students safe - longer rides on the bus going to very congested traffic areas? They are spending millions of taxpayer dollars at a time when gas is at an all-time high, the economy sucks and some of our residents are still not back to working steady, still having problems paying for food, gas and taxes.

Do these school board members use any logic or common sense when making these decisions that affect the taxpayers? And how can Pennsylvania Department of Transportation approve this school project when the traffic on Route 329 was at 125% capacity 20 years ago?

Do they even know this area, or are the approvals coming from Harrisburg? Who’s in charge at PennDOT, or are they just sleeping?

I just cannot understand how they can approve building an elementary school at a location that is unsafe for children.

Maggie Kemp

East Allen Township