​Bensalem Township is nearing the completion of the Central Park Trail, a multi-grant funded project that will provide a safe and accessible pedestrian pathway from Hulmeville Road to Bensalem Central Park.  The project includes a 900-foot gravel pathway, ADA parking, and wayfinding signage. Through this new connection, the Bensalem Central Park will be connected to adjacent schools, businesses, police and park offices, a local library and the Imagination Land Playground.

​The Bensalem Fall Festival began as Bensalem Pride Day during our Tri-Centennial Celebration in 1992.  Mayor DiGirolamo, then a local business owner, was the Chairman of the Tri-Centennial Commission that organized and hosted that very first Pride Day Celebration, and the Mayor has been at the heart of each and every Pride Day and Fall Festival Celebration that has been held since that time.
 
It is therefore with the utmost sadness that today we must announce the cancellation of the 2020 Fall Festival. 
 
Each year thousands of Bensalem Residents gather in our Central Park to enjoy a day full of rides, games, performances and demonstrations, foods and crafts from a vast array of vendors, and the annual car show.  The Festival would conclude with a concert under the stars at our Penn Community Bank Amphitheatre and a second-to-none fireworks display prepared by internationally renowned Zambelli Fireworks.
 
The Fall Festival involves nearly a year’s worth of planning by a great number of people within the Township.  As the Governor’s Declaration of Emergency, Stay at Home Order, and Phased Reopening Plans went into effect in March and April, the Township initially put Fall Festival Plans on hold, hoping that as time progressed, a Fall Festival, smaller in size and scope than normal, might still be possible.  As Governor Wolf moved Bucks County into the “Green Phase” of his Reopening Plan at the end of June, the Township began working on a plan that would have kept this year’s concert under the stars and fireworks display as scheduled, hoping that the Governor’s restrictions on outdoor gatherings would have been further modified or even lifted by Labor Day.
 
Sadly, last week the Governor extended his Declaration of Emergency for another 90 days, carrying us up to the end of November.  Further, the Governor’s prohibition against outdoor crowds or gatherings of greater than 250 people remains in effect, and neither the Governor nor the Secretary of Health have given any indication that this 250 person limitation will be either lifted or modified at any time in the near future.   As we are now less than a month from the October 3rd Fall Festival date, we have no alternative but to acknowledge, at this time, that the show cannot go on.
 
As Summer has now drawn to a close, and the final few months of this unprecedented year are upon us, let us pray for our lives to soon return to normal.  Until then, please stay safe, and please take time to appreciate the things in our lives that we too often take for granted until they are suddenly gone.

Service * Service * Service

View agenda for Bensalem Township PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING to be held on Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at 2400 Byberry Road. Click Here

​PROCEDURE POLICY AND VISITOR HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PLANNING COMMISSION AND ZONING HEARING BOARD MEETINGS

View Procedure Policy for Applicants, Expert Witness, and Township Residents attending the Planning Commission, Zoning Hearing Board Meetings and Appointments HERE

All attendees will also need to download and fill out the Visitor Health Questionnaire HERE prior to attending.

All Applicants, Expert Witness, and Township Residents attending the Planning Commission or Zoning Hearing Board must conform to the guidelines.

Daytime and nighttime lane restrictions will be in place on U.S. 1 and Street Road (Route 132) next week for bridge and roadway construction and for surveying for projects to widen and improve U.S.1 in Bucks County, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today.  
 
The work schedule is:
 

• Wednesday, September 9, through Saturday, September 12, from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and Wednesday, September 9, through Friday, September 11, from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM the following morning, single lane closures will be in place on northbound or southbound U.S. 1 between Rockhill Drive and Old Lincoln Highway;

 

• Wednesday, September 9, through Saturday, September 12, from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and Wednesday, September 9, through Friday, September 11, from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM the following morning, single lane closures will be in place on eastbound or westbound Street Road (Route 132) between Old Lincoln Highway and Kingston Way; and

 

• Wednesday, September 9, and Thursday, September 10, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, alternating northbound or southbound lane closures will be in place on U.S. 1 between the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Bensalem Interchange and Business Route 1 for surveying and related activities.

 
Motorists are advised to allow extra time when traveling through the work areas because backups and slowdowns will occur. All scheduled activities are weather permitting.
 
Work on this project will be in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health guidance as well as a project-specific COVID-19 safety plan, which will include protocols for social distancing, use of face coverings, personal and job-site cleaning protocols, management of entries to the jobsite, special signage and relevant training.
 
Crews currently are reconstructing the middle section along 1.3 miles of U.S. 1, and the middle section of Street Road (Route 132) under the second major stage of the RC1 project. Ongoing activities also include construction of the center sections of U.S. 1 bridges over Street Road (Route 132), the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the Turnpike ramps at the Bensalem Interchange.
 
The surveying work is one of the advance engineering activities currently underway for the Section RC2 project, which is under design and anticipated to be under construction in late 2021 or 2022.
 
Allan A. Myers, Inc. of Worcester, Montgomery County is the general contractor on the $95.1 million project which is financed with 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funds. The project is expected to complete by late 2022.  
This contract (RC1) is the first of three construction contracts to rebuild and widen U.S. 1; replace aging bridges; and install safety enhancements along a four-mile section of the expressway from just north of Philadelphia to just north of Route 413 (Pine Street) in Middletown Township and Langhorne Borough.  For more information, visit www.us1bucks.com.
For a complete list of construction projects impacting state-owned highways in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, visit our District 6 Traffic Bulletin.
 
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.comor downloading the 511PA application for iPhone and Android devices. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.
 
Follow PennDOT on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAPhilly and like the department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/phillypenndot and Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot
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