The deciding vote is in. What today is known as Route 228 will be the Adams Township Main Street. County Commissioner Kim Geyer revealed in the April 4 Butler Eagle (“Rte. 228 design concerns voiced,” Page 12) that another traffic signal would be added “between Quality Gardens and the Three Degree Road intersection.”

It is exactly a half-mile between these two locations and there are no current businesses north of 228 until Quality Gardens and yet, a traffic signal is now planned at about 440 yards from Three Degree.

This is not characteristic of a “highway.”

As recently as the Jan 14, 2015, Butler Eagle editorial, “Ball's Bend” from Quality Gardens east to Route 8 was understood to be top priority and would “…establish a modern truck route and high volume commuter path between Butler and Interstate 79.” In a March 26, 2016 article titled “Route 228 Widening funded but Years Away,” Brian Allen from PennDOT continued to identify “Ball's Bend” as the top priority. In a PennDOT meeting held at the Adams Township Municipal Building, it was again verbally related to attendees that “Ball's Bend” was the top priority and would be completed by 2025.

In latter 2017, it was learned that Giant Eagle was going to place a GetGo at the intersection of Route 228 and Pittsburgh Street, which was confirmed in 2018 when Giant Eagle presented its plan to the Adams Township Planning Commission. Agreements were already in place with PennDOT including the immediate acceleration of necessary preparation at the Pittsburgh Street intersection.

In early 2018, it was learned that the Three Degree intersection was now the priority rather than Ball's Bend, with unknown businesses planned along the southern side of the widened Route 228, or should I say southern side of Adams Township Main Street.

The visions professed above concerning traffic “throughput” from Interstate 79 to Route 8 along with current Adams Township residents hoping for improvement in access to both of these two main arteries have essentially been quietly negated by what appears to be a continuation of the back room decisions involving special interest and conflict of interest groups.

Sadly, it now appears that current businesses (Quality Gardens) are ignored in the same fashion as current residents are ignored by local government officials obsessed with new development and new community.

William Been Adams Township