New hotel will bring traffic-easing improvements to Walker Road at U.S. 30

Chambersburg Public Opinion

Traffic backs up on Walker Road near the location of a newly planned hotel near the Lincoln Way East McDonald's exit on Friday, October 12, 2018.

CHAMBERSBURG -- Improvements to Walker Road will accompany a four-story hotel that is to be built in the next year.

Chambersburg Borough Council on Oct. 8 approved a final development plan for the TRU by Hilton hotel. The 85-room hotel will be built behind the Ruby Tuesday restaurant and on the banks of the Falling Spring trout stream.

The developer has agreed to widen Walker Road between Lincoln Way (U.S. 30) and the curve:

A right-turn turn lane will be added to Walker for southbound traffic entering the hotel driveway and the driveway to McDonald's. A second entrance to the hotel will be located on the McDonald’s drive.
Traffic going north on Walker and waiting to turn left into McDonald's or TRU will have a separate lane.

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Developers have proposed building a Tru by Hilton hotel on Walker Road, Chambersburg. Pictured is a Tru by Hilton in East Lancaster, Pa.

Chambersburg Borough Council has approved a TRU by Hilton hotel, similar to this artist's concept, on Walker Road behind Ruby Tuesdays.

Traffic currently backs up across three southbound lanes on Walker in the area.

The wider street should improve stacking during peak hours at the Walker Road intersection at the Lincoln, according to Borough Manager Jeffrey Stonehill. The developer’s traffic engineer proposed the concept.

"It's going to make a huge difference," said Hiren Patel of Managlam Management, hotel operators. "The new improvements at Walker will help immensely."

Eastbound Lincoln Way at Walker Road is the most congested spot in the county on weekends, according to the Franklin County Long Range Transportation Plan.

Traffic will not be disrupted during construction, according to Patel. He is lining up contractors and work should begin this year. The hotel should be finished by September or October 2019.

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A sidewalk will be installed between the hotel and Lincoln Way, but the borough granted a waiver to the developer, Gold Leaf LLC, for a sidewalk around the curve to the north. Plans, however, must indicate the location for the sidewalk, which the borough may require property owners to pay for and to install in the future.

The mid-block pedestrian crosswalk on Walker Road will be removed. The walk connects a gravel parking lot, where the TRU hotel will be built, to Ruby Tuesday and the Clarion Inn and Suites.

Improvements to Walker Road in Chambersburg are shown on the 2018 land development plan for TRU by Hilton.

Tru by Hilton will be the ninth hotel between Exits 16 and 17 of Interstate 81.

Hilton in 2016 introduced the TRU brand to cater to millennials. Features include smaller rooms, bigger bathrooms, a large lobby, a game room, a social media wall, fitness center, WiFi access, 24/7 coffee and gourmet snacks and continental breakfast.

Jim Hook, 717-262-4759