Politics & Government

Township Manager: Horsham in Good Shape Despite Recession

Bill Walker gave the annual "State of Horsham" address Wednesday afternoon during the Greater Chamber of Commerce's annual luncheon.

Easing traffic, boosting business and redeveloping the shuttered – while keeping taxes flat – were agenda items for Horsham’s future as Township Manager Bill Walker presented the annual Wednesday afternoon.

“(Traffic) is our No. 1 priority in Horsham,” Walker told the crowd of more than 100 gathered for the Greater Horsham Chamber of Commerce luncheon. “If you can’t move, you have issues and it affects jobs, it affects businesses, it affects people’s attitudes.”

Key in improving transportation infrastructure and helping traffic flow better is to continue with public/private partnerships, Walker said. In the short-term, Walker said a designated left lane would be added at Gibraltar and Dresher roads.

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Other transportation projects include:

  • Adding a second left turn lane at Route 611 and Dresher Road
  • Addressing signal timing for southbound Route 611
  • PennDOT will be milling and paving Norristown Road from Horsham Road to Tennis Avenue in Upper Dublin from September through November
  • PennDOT will beginning next month to make repairs to the bridge. During the estimated six-month-long construction, the bridge will remain closed.
  • Horsham is partnering with Lower Gwynedd Township to install a . “It’s not anything that’s going to control or make traffic better on Welsh Road,” Walker said, adding that the light is being added to improve safety.
  • Transforming Horsham Road (between Babylon and Stump roads) to four lanes to coincide with the impending 202 parkway in Montgomery Township. “If we want to keep traffic moving on Horsham Road, we’re going to have to widen Horsham Road,” Walker said. When asked by an audience member how long the project would take, Walker estimated 20 years or more based on the backlog and limited funding for PennDOT’s Transportation Improvement Program.
  • Convert Blair Mill Road and Route 611 (between Welsh Road and 611) to four lanes.
  • Improvements to Willow Grove turnpike interchange culvert to help traffic move faster.

Despite the economic downturn, Walker reported that business - unlike the sometimes bottleneck traffic - is keeping pace as Horsham Township ranks No. 3 in Montgomery County for the highest number of employees (31,000) working in the municipality. That number surpasses the township’s 26,147 residents, Walker said, and is expected to stay true through 2020.

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The township’s five major office parks are 88 to 90 percent occupied, Walker said and the unemployment rate is lower than the county, state and national averages. In addition, he said the township is seeing an annual growth of 6.2 percent.

Walker said that Comcast, a major employer in town with close to 1,000 employees, is fairly new to Horsham. Also, Music Choice, which had a small office in Horsham, recently relocated to another part of the town.

Other developments on the horizon include:

  • at what is now . Walker said the first phase of the three-phase development is expected to get underway next year.
  • The vacant Texaco on Limekiln Pike and Welsh Road in the Maple Glen section of town could have a possible tenant soon – and an improved intersection.
  • is expected to have its land development plans heard at the Feb. 7 planning commission meeting. Tonelli’s owner Chip Randa is planning to build a , using existing building and demolishing the adjacent brick house to allow for additional parking.
  • Construction is underway for the 80-room Shellbourne Assisted Living Center on Horsham Road new Lower State Road.

Walker touted the township’s low tax rate, which he said is the sixth lowest in Montgomery County, as another positive. Real estate taxes have not been raised since 1989 – except for in 2002 when voters approved a levy to cover the cost of building , he said.

The task at hand now is to replenish the capital improvement fund – the pot of money used to cover the $6.5 million police building, as well as the widening of Dresher and Horsham roads, both firehouses and a public works facility.

“We do not incur debt to do capital projects,” Walker said. “We’re in save mode again to do future improvements in town.”

As far as the expected 15 to 20-year build-out of 862 acres of the former Willow Grove air base, Walker said the township will take the same approach.

“We will grow with the base,” Walker said of the phased construction. “There is no plan to raise taxes.”


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