The $6.5 million construction of a new intersection at Hillcrest and Germantown Avenues is becoming a neighbor-relations issue for Chestnut Hill College as it moves forward on a 2008 master plan for its Sugarloaf Campus, which is located across the street from its original campus on Germantown Avenue. 

Neighbors, upset about the noise and disruption, have been asking the Chestnut Hill Community Association for help in getting information. And now, neighbors say, they’re upset by a letter they just received from an inspection company hired by the contractor, asking for permission to come and take a look at their properties.

“The survey will consist of verbal recording and digital photographing of interior conditions, i.e.,  wallsl, doorways, flooring, windows as well as in the basement areas,” the letter states. “The exterior conditions will include chimneys, foundations, windows, etc., and will be documented in the same fashion.”

“It seems clear that is intended to protect the college against future claims by their neighbors of any negative impact on their personal property,” John McMeekin, who lives next to the campus on Bells Mill Road, wrote in a letter to the Local. 

And it's not the only cause for upset, McMeekin wrote. 

“As near neighbors we have been perplexed and alarmed by the often thunderously loud sounds of explosives, and the sheer mass and number of large earth-moving construction equipment that has already changed the bucolic nature of the entrance to our community,” 

Christopher Spangler, chief communications officer for Chestnut Hill College, said the inspection is required by the city as part of its demolition permit and was sent by one of their subcontractors.

“The survey company is a third party hired by, but independent from, the contractor doing the work,” Spangler said. “The survey is voluntary, but its purpose is to provide a record that protects both the homeowner and the contractor in the highly unlikely event of any damage.

 “While the survey serves to help expedite claims, those who choose not to participate are not precluded from making a claim,” he added. “But without the survey record, it may be more difficult to prove a claim.”

When surveys are declined, Spangler said, contractors will put monitors near the property to record activity throughout the process to measure any potential impact.

According to Spangler, the blasting is actually the best and least intrusive way to make way for the new road. 

“Rock needs to be removed for the roadway, and that can either be done by blasting it or hammering it,” Spangler said. “Blasting is actually better, and has the least amount of impact on neighbors, because of its low-level charges, spaced out. It’s not noticeable at a distance, it’s a low-level rumble. It’s also a much quicker and less dangerous way to remove the rock. [Jack] hammering is much louder.”

Construction began in November, with the clearing of the steep and wooded land at the place where the new intersection will be located. That was when some residents, surprised by the suddenly naked appearance of what had long been a wooded slope, began expressing their dismay. 

The next phase of the project is to make the “cut” into  the hillside that will become the roadway through the property. And that’s where the blasting comes in. 

“While details are still being finalized, we do not anticipate this phase of work beginning prior to the end of January,” Spangler told the Local. The blasting will be completed within 6-8 weeks, Spangler said.

According to Spangler, the school explained all this in a recent letter to neighbors. 

“This work involves reliance on a limited series of targeted demolition blasting to fragment the underlying rock, along with the associated  soils, for removal to make way for the road path,” Spangler wrote in a notice to neighbors. “This method was selected because it is the safest and  least intrusive way to complete the work. It involves a limited number of low-level ignitions that will last  a second or two each, as opposed to the alternative method of hammering into the rock, which would  entail five or six weeks of continual noise throughout the workday.”

Spangler said the new intersection is necessary because both of the existing entrances were set at awkward angles to Germantown Avenue, and not safe. “The turns onto Germantown Avenue were small and narrow, and required cars to take a 90 degree turn into oncoming traffic,” he said. 

Ultimately, the intersection will be widened, and left-hand turn lanes will be added on both Germantown and Hillcrest Avenues. The new intersection will have a full four-way traffic light. “The lights are being timed and monitored to improve traffic flow for everyone who drives along that corridor, and also Hillcrest,” Spangler said. 

The work also includes the creation of a retention basin, which was required by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to accommodate stormwater runoff. And during construction, erosion control includes a network of sediment and compost “traps,” silt curtains, fences, and a large erosion control mat throughout the east side of the SugarLoaf campus. The Philadelphia Water Department has conducted regular inspections.

Tree removal was completed on Dec. 7, Spangler said, and the college intends to replant the hillside with trees when construction is finished. Some of the trees were removed to make room for new foot and bicycle trails, while keeping some specimen trees. 

The construction and new landscaping is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.