This story was produced by the Berks County Bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks.
MAIDENCREEK TOWNSHIP — As construction gets underway on a nearly 1-million-square-foot warehouse along Route 222, Pennsylvania’s transportation officials are planning a nearly $90 million reconstruction and widening of the major thoroughfare.
Maidencreek Township Supervisors in 2023 approved the 930,000-square-foot project located along Route 222 at Evansville Road after a year of hearings and multiple lawsuits. Many residents feared the warehouse — the size of roughly 15 football fields — would increase traffic and create safety problems like crashes. They also questioned the validity of the traffic studies performed by the developer’s contractors.
There are 26,000 trips daily on average on the stretch of Route 222 where the warehouse is being built, according to the most recent data available.
Changes to the site’s access points were required by PennDOT in 2023, and adjusted how traffic to the warehouse site being developed by Maiden Creek Associates, L.P. will enter and leave. That work was completed by the developer, PennDOT officials confirmed.
Berks County had a 45% increase in warehouses between 2013 and 2023, adding nine over the decade, according to a recent Center for Rural Pennsylvania study. Berks was among six counties part of the specific case studies.
The report, titled “Analyzing the Impact of Warehouse Development in Pennsylvania” and released in August, notes the county faces “increased traffic issues” because many of the smaller local roads can’t accommodate tractor trailers. Increased traffic has led to more crashes, suggesting a “need for infrastructure improvements,” according to the report. It emphasized the community pushback in Maidencreek and Cumru Townships.
Improvements to Route 222 have been a priority of the Reading Area Transportation Study for several decades and have been anticipated even before the warehouse was proposed, PennDOT spokesperson Ronald Young Jr. told Spotlight PA. The Reading Area Transportation Study plans transit for Berks County.
While the only roadwork currently underway in the area is a roundabout project on Route 222 at Long Lane in Maxatawny Township, PennDOT District 5 officials are preparing to reconstruct and widen a 5-mile stretch of Route 222 in the next two years.
Young said that the Route 222 redesign project is currently being planned. Officials hope they’ll be ready to go out to bid late next year or early 2027.
Here’s an overview of major PennDOT work on Route 222 in Berks County:
Roundabout in Maxatawny Township: Construction began in February at the intersection of Long Lane and Route 222 in Maxatawny Township. Crews are constructing a roundabout and revising “roadway approach work,” Young said. The project is expected to be completed in September 2027. The contract with JVI Group, Inc., of York Springs, totals about $9 million.
Route 222 reconstruction: Young said PennDOT aims to go out for construction contract bidding in late 2026 or early 2027 to reconstruct and widen Route 222 from Schaeffer Road to the Kutztown Bypass in Richmond Township. Crews plan to widen the highway to four lanes and install a median barrier. The project also includes a roundabout at Pleasant Hill and Richmond roads, as well as bridge replacement at a tributary to Moselem Creek. It’s expected to cost between $80 and $90 million.
Route 222 widening: PennDOT also anticipates widening Route 222 to four lanes between Long Lane and the Lehigh County line in Maxatawny Township, but crews won’t begin engineering until 2029.
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