CRANBERRY TWP — Township officials have received a $1.5 million grant from the state Department of Transportation that will be used to build a new traffic lane and an underpass on Route 228.

Manager Jerry Andree said the money will help in the beginning phases of a project to build a new eastbound lane on Route 228 between Interstate 79 and Franklin Road.

The money also will help pay for an underpass, or a “fly-under,” that would go underneath Route 228 and connect the Cranberry Woods office park to the new UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and other developments on the north side of Route 228.

Construction on the project isn’t expected to start before the spring of 2016, although the $1.5 million state grant will help cover design and initial construction costs.

The overall project is expected to be “significantly more expensive,” Andree said, although he added the money from the state will help get the project off the ground.

Bruce Mazzoni, chairman of the township’s board of supervisors, said Monday the grant money is “further validation of this community’s planning efforts.”

“Those efforts have created one of the most desirable communities (in which) to live, work and play in the commonwealth,” he said.

Mazzoni added the road enhancements and underpass will help facilitate more traffic on the roads, traffic that is expected to increase after another 2,500 jobs are expected to come both to Cranberry Springs and the Cranberry Woods developments.

That’s not to mention the 8,000 jobs that already exist in the two developments, Mazzoni said.

“This investment will become a building block connecting these two world-class developments under Route 228,” he said.

Andree said township officials will seek other grants that will help pay for the rest of the project.

Andree said the eastbound lane is expected to cost about $5.8 million and the underpass is expected to cost about $9 million.

In addition to the two projects in Cranberry, the state also awarded $1.5 million for road improvements at the intersection of Route 19 and Little Creek Road in Jackson Township.

That money also will go to installing a new traffic light at the intersection.

Ron Lutz, chairman of the township supervisors, said Monday he’s thrilled the money is coming to Jackson Township.

“Truthfully, I didn’t expect it to come through,” he said. “There’s a lot of development being planned in that area, and I know (a traffic signal) is something that people have been requesting.”

Township manager Chris Rearick said Don Rodgers of Creative Real Estate Development was the applicant, not the township.

The township had planned to do improvements to the intersection and the grant will ensure they are done in a timely manner, he said.

Rodgers owns land in the vicinity of the intersection, he said.

In total, the state gave out $19.2 million for 12 projects throughout the state as part of the Transportation Infrastructure and Investment Fund.

Eagle staff writer Joe Genco contributed to this report.