Lehigh Valley Mall owner plans to evict public transit center

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Accessing the Lehigh Valley’s largest shopping mall might get a lot harder.

Lehigh Valley Mall management requested that the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) move its transit center off the property when the lease expires in June.

LANTA Executive Director Owen O’Neil said in a statement that mall management expressed “safety concerns” about the current location of the transit center and the extent to which buses need to travel on mall property.

“LANTA and Lehigh Valley Mall management have been cooperating in a process to identify an alternative that addresses the needs and concerns of LANTA and our riders, as well the Mall and its tenants,” O’Neil said.

A spokesperson for Lehigh Valley Mall management told WHYY News in a statement that the mall has been in discussions with LANTA to identify a new location for the transit center.

“Nothing at this point in time has been decided,” the spokesperson said.

Simon Property Group, which manages the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township just north of Allentown, did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment. Craig Beavers, a member of the Allentown City Planning Commission, said the transit center is more than a way for people without cars to get to the mall.

“It’s a major employment hub for people to have access to work and jobs,” Beavers said. “And this also serves as a major transit hub for the region. This is the only way to get to the airport from several parts of the Lehigh Valley and if it gets kicked out of the mall, then without a solution in place, it’s going to hurt a lot of people.”

At a time where the industry is attempting to make a cultural comeback, Beavers finds it “strange” that the Lehigh Valley Mall is removing an access point. He doesn’t know how Simon came to this decision.

“From a face value, it does appear to be a little discriminatory towards the people who need to use transit to get to the mall,” he said.

The world’s largest operator of shopping malls has tried for years to move bus stops farther from the Southridge Mall in Milwaukee.

Simon owns numerous malls in the greater Philadelphia region, including the King of Prussia Mall and the Oxford Valley Mall — both of which also have bus service through SEPTA.

As of now, there does not appear to be any shake-ups happening at those shopping hubs. A SEPTA spokesperson told WHYY News in a statement that the two entities recently collaborated on an end-of-line facility at Oxford Valley, which has four bus routes serving Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks County.

“The new facility provides bus operators with a safe layover location and easy access to restroom facilities in the mall,” the spokesperson said. “Both parties are committed to ensuring customers and employees have safe and reliable bus service to the region’s malls and other area destinations. SEPTA will continue to work cooperatively with Simon Properties moving forward.”

SEPTA being asked to pick up and move is not far-fetched. The transit authority discontinued bus service in 2008 at the MacDade Mall and the Eddystone Shopping Center.

“It’s important that planners and local residents really take a hard and deep look at where they place such critical infrastructure like these transit centers,” Beavers said. “When they’re put onto private property, it does create a lot of headache for situations such as this.”

He said he’s optimistic that LANTA can find a solution to reduce the impact on the community. LANTA is asking riders to fill out a survey on how the agency can continue serving the Whitehall area.