ROUTE CHANGES IN MONTCO

Tomorrow, route changes in the Norristown and North Penn areas will take effect. Riders may not have long to experience those changes, as the threat of a strike is still looming.

The 97 will officially be split into two routes - the west end of the 97 will become the 90, and will operate between Norristown and Plymouth Meeting, via Norristown State Hospital and Penn Square. Sunday service to Norristown State Hospital would also be eliminated. As a result of the 90 terminating at Plymouth Meeting Mall, the 95 will be cut back accordingly. Also, the 95 will no longer serve the IKEA off of Ridge Pike.

The east end of the 97 will be extended from Spring Mill station in Conshohocken to Barren Hill. There will also be a re-routing of the line to offer direct service to the Conshohocken Rail Station.

The 98 will see some routing adjustments, mainly on weekends and evenings. Westbound evening service will operate via Germantown Pike instead of via Blue Bell, however, eastbound service to Blue Bell will still operate during the evening hours. All weekend service will bypass Blue Bell.

In the North Penn area, the 94 and 96 will see significant restructuring. The 94 express service via Bethlehem Pike (PA 309) will now be designated Route 134. The 94 local service via Ambler and Montgomery County Community College will remain unchanged. The 134 routing will remain virtually the same, however there will be a re-routing to serve job sites along McKean Rd in Horsham Twp.

The 96 will be cut back to Lansdale; service between Lansdale and Telford will be replaced by new Route 132, which will be extended to serve the Montgomery Mall. Service levels between Norristown and Lansdale will remain unchanged.

The 132 will operate over most of the existing 96 routing between Telford and Lansdale, but will be re-routed off of Penn St and Souderton Pike in the Hatfield area onto County Line Rd (PA 309) and Unionville Pike. There will also be a routing change in the Souderton area, with service operating via Main St and Reliance Rd instead of via Summit St and School Ln. New evening and Sunday service will be offered, marking the first Sunday service between Lansdale and Telford in recent memory.

The changes will take effect tomorrow, but, with the threat of a strike, riders may only have one day to adjust to the new services...