Work to straighten Rt. 228
MIDDLESEX TWP — A section of Route 228 from Route 8 to Quality Gardens near the Adams Township border will be widened and straightened which will require the taking of six or seven properties by the state.
The state Department of Transportation plan will eliminate sweeping curves on the busy road, including the one known as “Ball's Bend.” The new road will make Route 228 a straighter highway from Route 8 to the Mars schools.
The $20 million to $25 million project will have two lanes both east and west and a turn lane in the center. Construction is planned to start in 2019.
Chad Mosco, a PennDOT design project manager, said the new road will be 1.5 miles long and begin at the existing intersection at Route 8. The straightened and widened version will reconnect with the existing Route 228 near Quality Gardens.
While PennDOT has completed two widening projects on Route 228 in Adams Township, this is the first that will not follow the path of the existing highway.
The most-affected neighborhood will be the section of Harbison Road at its intersection with Allemande Lane. Some homes there will be taken in the project, while others will find themselves neighbors of a new four-lane highway.
A 4- or 5-acre section of the 90-acre former Hawkins farm, which is now owned and leased by the late Hawkins' six daughters and one son, also will be taken to build the road.
He said PennDOT will relocate the homeowners whose properties will be taken. Those properties will be appraised, and comparable properties will be found where they can relocate.
Mosco said PennDOT will pay fair market value for the properties, and assist with relocating expenses. He said acquisitions will likely begin in 2017 with construction in 2019.
The new highway will cross the wetlands at Ball's Bend. Mosco said PennDOT is required to provide a new square foot of wetland for every square foot of wetland removed in the construction.
“In the area where we will remove 228 along the stream, we anticipate building a wetland in that area,” Mosco said.
Once the new highway is complete, Mosco said the Ball's Bend section of the existing Route 228 will be removed and the land regraded.
He said the section of the highway near Park and Harbison roads will be upgraded and returned to the township. He said engineers have not yet determined where the roads and driveways in that area will access the new Route 228.
“We didn't get the local road network ironed out yet,” Mosco said.
The Hawkins family said their great-grandfather moved to Middlesex from Aspinwall in 1922 and began farming his almost 100 acres, which runs parallel to Harbison Road on its west side.
The 4 or 5 acres PennDOT plans to take is the most fertile soil on the farm, three of the sisters said. They said in addition to the acreage, PennDOT will take 50 feet on either side as well.“It's a huge loss,” said Ellen Hawkins Flemma.She said the new Route 228 will split the southern end of the farm from the larger northern end.“How will we get to the south side of the farm?” Flemma asked. “It will be on the other side of 228.”She also worries about her neighbors on Allemande Lane, including one who just built a new garage.“It has certainly diminished the value of the farm as it has all the houses around here,” Flemma said.But Mosco said straightening out the curves on Route 228 is imperative.“Obviously the property owners directly or indirectly impacted were upset, and that is understandable,” Mosco said. “No matter where you put that road, there are going to be impacted property owners.”Butler County Commissioner Chairman Bill McCarrier said he was excited and pleased when PennDOT presented the Ball's Bend project to him.“There are 25,000 cars a day going over that road, and it's a bottleneck in the mornings and evenings,” McCarrier said. “It needs to be straightened.”He said the project will make it easier for Butler motorists to access the Pittsburgh International Airport and commute to their jobs in and near Pittsburgh.“It will ease the traffic problems,” McCarrier said.Although Flemma said it seems to her that PennDOT merely laid a ruler on a map and drew a straight line from Route 8 to Adams Township, Mosco said the new route is the best placement.“It seemed to make the most sense for us,” he said.
