A new legislative study examines what travelers along Interstates 78, 80 and 81 can see with their eyes.

These interstate corridors have seen “tremendous growth” in warehouse development during the past decade, according to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative research agency.

This fits with Pennsylvania’s geographic position as a Keystone transportation state linking the Midwest with the Eastern seaboard.

All told, the number of warehouses in Pennsylvania increased from 693 to 939, or 35 percent, between 2014 and 2023, spurred on by the growth in e-commerce, inventory changes and other trends.

Interstate corridors attract warehouses

Cumberland, Franklin and Berks Counties along I-81 and I-78 led the counties in additional warehouses.

The study looked at warehouses in Berks, Butler, Cumberland, Franklin, Lackawanna and Schuylkill Counties as case studies.

The warehouse sector accounts for 107,000 direct jobs statewide with another 21,000 jobs tied to the supply chain related to warehouses.

The study identifies Blue Buffalo in Lackawanna County and Amazon in Schuylkill County as being large warehouses, Golden Triangle in Cumberland County as a medium warehouse and Line-X and Krown in Butler County as small warehouses.

Warehouses impact traffic, the labor market, agricultural land, noise and light pollution and stormwater runoff, the study said.

The study presents a mixed picture about transportation safety issues with warehouses.

The share of traffic collisions involving tractor/semi trailers has steadily declined, while the share involving single trucks has increased.

Collisions involving commercial vehicles commonly happened near ramps leading to a warehouse. The design of a warehouse site may affect how many collisions occur.

State, local gov’ts play siting role

Local governments have often rezoned land tracts to allow for warehouses, and that has led to the loss of agricultural land.

The state government plays a development role with warehouses too by offering tax incentives through the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance tax abatement program and Keystone Opportunity Zones.

Local, county and state agencies should cooperate more to address the zoning and planning issues needed to accommodate warehouses, the study said. Small rural municipalities are often targeted for large-scale warehouse projects, but many lack the planning tools to address their impact.

Some challenges in this regard are that many counties don’t have a public list of warehouses in their jurisdiction and the user of a warehouse often isn’t known at the time of development.