Route 33 Interchange Project

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The Route 33 Interchange Project involved the construction of a new interchange along Pennsylvania Route 33 and associated improvements in Palmer Township, 65 miles north of Philadelphia near Easton. A surrounding 628-acre site with a single owner is being developed as the Chrin Commerce Centre, a mixed-use development with industrial, distribution, office, and retail components. The owner is selling parcels of land to third-party developers. To facilitate access to the development, a new interchange has been constructed between Main Street running east-west through Palmer Township and the site, and Pennsylvania Route 33 running north-south with connections to I-78 to the south and I-80 to the north. The developer donated approximately 22 acres of land to PennDOT for the interchange right-of-way and made other infrastructure improvements within the Chrin Commerce Centre site. A development agreement between the land owner and the Northampton County Industrial Development Authority, which provides nonprofit and manufacturing companies access to tax-exempt financing, set out responsibilities for payment of the infrastructure improvements: approximately $13.6 million of improvements paid for by the developer and $27.4 million in public improvements, including the interchange design, acquisition, and construction, the widening of Main Street, and replacement of the existing bridge over Main Street. The public improvements were financed in part by bonds issued against a tax increment levied on the properties within the improvement district (Route 33 Neighborhood Improvement District) where the development is taking place. An agreement between the Authority and the relevant taxing bodies (Northampton County, Palmer Township, and the Easton Area School District) allows the use of the tax increment to repay the bonds.

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