The State College Borough Council voted Monday night to approve converting Calder Way to a one-way traffic lane (eastbound) between High Street and Hetzel Street, effective through the end of May 2018. This essentially impacts the portion of Calder Ave. in front of Calder Commons.

This lane closure will attempt to prevent traffic congestion due to construction of the RISE at the former location of Kildare’s. The RISE will include undergraduate and graduate student housing in addition to the grocery store Urban Market.

The main concern stems from drivers turning left from High Street onto Calder Way. If the construction site has a delivery truck on Calder Way, said driver may not be able to move past on the already-narrow roadway, forcing the vehicle to stop on High Street. If another driver is turning left from Beaver Avenue onto High Street where the vehicle is stopped, this could cause major traffic complications and clear safety concerns.

After a brief discussion and scrutiny of the construction company, the State College Borough Council approved the closure unanimously.

You can read the full text of the request below.

Leonard S. Fiore, Inc. would like to formally request Borough approval to change the traffic pattern on Calder way, between the addresses of 538 and 522 E College to one-way east to facilitate construction traffic for the RISE student housing project. We anticipate the new traffic pattern will remain in place through May of 2018.

a. Tuesday November 8th, erect signage on Calder Way as proposed.

b. Wednesday November 9th, locate fence and Jersey barrier. (Traffic on Calder Way may remain 2-way west of 522 E College, towards Hetzel.)