Introduction
With the social contexts of our proposal established, it is important to look at how these interconnections are influenced at the government level through a political context. Most infrastructural development involves political actors of all levels depending on the size and scope of the project. In order to move past the planning phase to the implementation phase, there are many actors to work with and legal applications and approvals are required. Understanding the government background of such projects can help determine the feasibility of implementation. The political context is especially important to town-gown relationships and plays a key role in both the successes and frustrations in sociotechnical systems. Capitalizing on existing assets and accentuating the benefits of new infrastructure can create a positive political climate. Within this political context, we have established the zoning ordinances and laws that are relevant to our project and the key political figures that have influence over the feasibility of our project’s implementation.
Zoning and Laws to Consider
Zoning laws provided by the Easton city government offer guidelines and rules for any additional infrastructure that gets added to each specific zone. The arts campus downtown, which is made up of the Williams Visual Arts Center, Ahart Family Arts Plaza, Buck Hall, and Studio Theater are officially part of the River Corridor with Street Corridor Overlay District (City of Easton, 2021). This district is highlighted in green in Figure 13 and only includes the downtown arts campus that makes up the street corridor overlay. The rest of the green area is simply referred to as the River Corridor district. Dimensional standards for the district are laid out and include regulations such as lot standards, setbacks and building separations. Land uses and the development standards of some of them are also provided like with educational services under the institutional category. Each color-coded area represents a different zone with slightly different regulations
Figure 13: Individual zones taken from city of Easton interactive zoning map
The district description is provided below and hints at some of the considerations this project has also brought forth.
The purpose of the River Corridors and Other Green Areas District is to accommodate appropriate development while providing for adequate protection and buffering of the City’s waterways and other natural resources; assist in flood management; protection of environmentally sensitive areas; and meet the need for local and regional greenways, open space, and recreation within the City. The Street Corridor Enhancement Overlay District’s purpose is to accommodate medium and high intensity development at the gateways to the City and along the principal vehicular and pedestrian corridors, and to promote compact, walkable, mixed-use buildings with local and regional commercial services, compatibly scaled light industrial, and residential uses. (City of Easton, 2021)
The description emphasizes the need to promote effective local and regional greenways for recreation and to accommodate developments as a street corridor and gateway to the city. Our proposed addition to the side of the hill would meet this need effectively and help the gateway become a more accessible path for pedestrians and cyclists. The concern of flooding in the area has been addressed by Lafayette College’s downtown arts campus in a multitude of ways. The elevated bridge structure will connect to the Ahart Arts plaza that is already raised significantly above Bushkill creek to account for flooding. Additional measures would then have to be taken to guarantee the reliability of new infrastructure like the stair and elevator combination under pressure from flooding. As will be elaborated further in the following sections, government stakeholders and regulations are quite intense, and need to be addressed directly in proposals and designs.
Our Political Scope & Stakeholders
The political scope of our project is on city and state levels as it will need approvals from the Easton city government and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (depending on the proposal chosen for implementation). Lafayette College’s direct involvement as a private entity does indeed make the chance of a more expedient implementation of this new infrastructure possible if donors are interested. With a few key actors in Lafayette’s administration, the decision to dedicate funds to this project and hiring the necessary professionals can be done with regional approval being the most significant obstacle. Many of the political underpinnings for the political questions of this project have to do with this relationship between a private college and its surrounding municipality. There is indeed plenty of, “local political grudges and regulatory scrutiny,” that can happen when a college seeks to expand as is described in The New American College Town (Martin, 2019). To maximize positive relations, the focus of this project is on establishing a better connection between Lafayette and Easton that has the potential to maximize capital and financial resources, attract and retain world-class talent, drive economic development, and elevate the level of both learning and life as established in the social context (Chenoweth, 2017). This research can be used to leverage the political approvals needed for the implementation of this project.
Easton city government will have to be consulted regarding policy and zoning laws. College Ave is owned by PennDOT, but Lafayette owns the green space around it. Therefore, the intricacies of working with both parties and consulting with PennDOT will need to be considered for this project to succeed. College Ave regularly sees heavy traffic from all types of vehicles, so the design will have to be compliant with standards regarding height clearance and the ability to construct without significantly disrupting the current flow of traffic. Additionally, the project proposal needs to be convincing in its positive impacts on the community in order to pass approval. If the proposal is successful in ensuring an equitable design that promotes a more beneficial relationship between Lafayette and Easton, it can serve as a strong example of how Lafayette will incorporate community centric sustainable designs in its future development endeavors. Additionally, the bridge can incorporate artwork and designs from people outside of Lafayette College or professionals promoting an urban culture of functional, engaging, and aesthetically pleasing design.
From meeting with Professor Wilford-Hunt we learned that the project’s prospective impact and prominence will likely open up a great avenue for a potential donor to purchase naming rights to the bridge. This financial backing would help to support the implementation of a future more finalized version of this proposal. According to Professor Wilford-Hunt, the approval process for such a project starts with senior administrators including the President and VP for Finance and Administration before a design firm is hired to evaluate the feasibility of the project. Finally, it is up to the Board of Trustees to approve any plans of this magnitude. Simply put, the Board of Trustees are a group of about 30-45 members who “uphold their fiduciary responsibility by working with the president and top administrators to approve major policies, make long range plans, and oversee the budget” (Columbia, 2009). Lafayette’s relevant administrators and decision-makers will have to approve the funding and implementation for this project in order to initialize the core components of the project. Government officials on the city and state levels can provide part of the funding for this project, but it is safe to assume that most of the funding necessary will come from Lafayette College itself. Guiding their decision-making will be the growth of Lafayette’s image and success and whether this proposed project will be enough of a priority to warrant its immediate execution. The design must be cost-efficient and clearly meet the goals of providing a more accessible and appealing physical connection while proving Lafayette’s positive impact on its surrounding community.
Construction companies and design firms will be the ultimate stakeholders that help realize this project. Clear communication between the project proposal and the engineering design work already done will be necessary to ensure the result is as intended. How different companies operate and what rules and regulations they have with regards to such a project will need to be considered. The finalization of technical details rests in the hands of the professionals that will be hired for this project, and so work done by Lafayette members need to keep that in mind. It is vital that whatever construction company is chosen continues to keep the community in mind and does not alter plans in a way that could further damage the relationship between Easton and the college.
Multimodal Transportation Fund Grant
The Multimodal Transportation Fund (MTF) as part of the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) of Pennsylvania and managed by the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) is a clear resource for funding as highlighted by the recent Lafayette College Escarpment Improvement Project. Lafayette has gotten funds in the past from this fund for projects such as the Skyway proposal and is continuing to seek funding through this organization in the new escarpment plan. The government website gives an overview of what it is and its uses: “The Multimodal Transportation Fund provides grants to encourage economic development and ensure that a safe and reliable system of transportation is available to the residents of the commonwealth. Funds may be used for the development, rehabilitation and enhancement of transportation assets to existing communities, streetscape, lighting, sidewalk enhancement, pedestrian safety, connectivity of transportation assets and transit-oriented development.” Grants do not exceed $3,000,000 for any project. Additionally, there is a reminder that PennDOT’s own multimodal program is separate from the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s fund that Lafayette is dealing with (PADCED, 2021). The PennDOT MTF seems to be very active, since in the 2021-2022 year alone, they provided grants of up to $3,000,000 for 43 different projects across the state (PennDOT, 2021). Lafayette has successfully applied for the CFA MTF, but guidelines for the PennDOT do suggest that Lafayette’s plans as a non-profit organization would also be eligible. Regardless, the two MTFs are important ways for projects to receive public funding and that applies to our project and Lafayette College.
Lafayette applied to the MTF detailing the escarpment improvements proposal and cost estimates with Lafayette College itself, the Vice President of Finance and Administration, and the Executive Director of Government Relations from Lafayette as the applicant. This application and report, which was submitted July 24, 2021, went in-depth about how the new infrastructure reflects Easton’s needs as a whole with good background information and projected impacts. It brings together all the stakeholders including Lafayette and its administration, the community of Easton, and the government overseeing this project and most of its funding. The application points to the diversity of Easton’s four main neighborhoods and the physical challenges of College Hill for pedestrians and cyclists that we have also highlighted here. The application talks about the needs and benefits of transportation improvements that will promote equity and justice and encourage environmental conservation and preservation. These new additions of alternative transportation will also align with Easton’s 2035 plan as highlighted by the report. Positive economic impact as a result of this new proposal’s ability to integrate College Hill and Downtown Easton is also emphasized in this report. Professional engineers were consulted to arrive at the cost estimates provided in this report. To conclude, the Lafayette MTF proposal is a good example of stakeholders’ needs being expressed and met to help secure approval and funding from a public entity.