MIDDLESEX TWP — Everyone who would be affected by the proposal to realign Route 228 in the township is invited to a meeting this month to give their comment to officials.

The state Department of Transportation will hold a Ball’s Bend Realignment Project update meeting at 6 p.m. June 24 at the township municipal building on Browns Hill Road.

The project, which was announced in the fall, would straighten Route 228 from Route 8 to Quality Gardens by removing bends and realigning the busy highway through what is now the countryside.

According to the plan, as many as 11 properties could be taken in the project, and another 30 indirectly affected through readjusted driveways or the highway being placed close to a home.

All previous alignment projects on Route 228 have followed the current highway instead of cutting through homes and farms.

Deborah Casadei, PennDOT spokeswoman, said that the meeting is in response to requests by residents for more information on the project.

“This is an opportunity to get public input on issues that have been brought up (regarding the project),” Casedei said.

Heavily affected in the project’s current alignment are homes on and near Allemande Lane off Harbison Road. Because the new highway would go right through the area, at least six or seven properties would be taken in the project, PennDOT’s Chad Mosco said in February.

“It could (increase) to 10 or 11, easily,” Mosco said.

He said PennDOT plans to pay up to $5 million in fair market value prices for the properties to be taken.

But many residents feel the plan’s drawings do not show how driveways and roads will be connected to the project. Also while most of the affected property owners agree that Route 228 should be upgraded, they maintain that it should be widened along its current path.

Casadei said the June 24 meeting will allow residents to ask questions and for PennDOT officials to share information on the project.

“We want public input from anyone who has an interest in the project,” she said.