Hershey, Pennsylvania — The Derry Township Planning Commission met on August 6 with several major development projects on its agenda, including the SwimHershey aquatic facility. Following a lengthy discussion, the plan was ultimately sent back to the drawing board to address pedestrian safety.
SwimHershey is a privately-funded aquatic complex to be located off of Sand Beach Road, between Crystal A Drive and Kieffer Road. Phase one will include a 47,495-square foot building, holding a 50-meter competition pool facility to accommodate roughly 400 swimmers.
As reported by The Sun:
Board members suggested that because the facility is close to the Penn State Health Offices and Hersheypark Stadium, there is a potential for significant foot and automobile traffic in the area. They were concerned that there is also danger to pedestrians.
They felt that the danger is exacerbated by the fact that there will be a lot more people walking on the site than simply the swimmers.
On July 26, following the Def Leppard concert, a New York man was struck and killed while crossing Hersheypark Drive.
Board member Mike Guntrum said, “You have more than just the swimmers walking around. You have friends and family, too. They aren’t swimming; they’re going to be doing something. How do you deal with them?”
Consequently, the board said that the SwimHershey complex’s master plan must provide additional sidewalks to accommodate the walkers and separate them from auto traffic.
Representatives for SwimHershey countered that provision for a complete sidewalk network and other pedestrian protection measures should wait until the second phase plan is submitted. That phase of the project will include a building with a 25-meter warm up/cool down pool and an entrance way to the structure holding the 50-meter facility.
The board did not agree to wait. It pushed for “a cohesive plan to handle pedestrian traffic,” as one member put it, before the first phase plan is approved.
After lengthy discussions, the township’s Director of Community Development, Chuck Emerick, suggested that the phase one plan be tabled pending its modification to comprehensively address pedestrian traffic issues on the SwimHershey site.
The Planning Commission unanimously voted for the motion to that effect.
“We want to be able to bring in Olympic champions, competitive swim teams and other events,” Dan Clough, SwimHershey’s President and a U.S.A. Swimming Foundation member, told the Derry Township Board of Supervisors at a July 26, 2023, meeting. “That doesn’t exist anywhere else in the Northeast.”
Harrisburg100 