ADAMS TWP — Residents and officials packed the township municipal building Thursday for an open house presenting PennDOT's Route 228 Railroad Bridge West Expansion project.

The project would widen Route 228 between the intersection with Franklin Road and a little past Beaver Street Extension. The project would add lanes and traffic signals in anticipation of growing traffic and safety demands.

State project manager Mark Rozich said PennDOT hopes to begin the project in 2022, but officials have yet to secure the $105 million in funding needed.

“We're moving this project forward in the hopes Butler County Commissioners get a federal grant,” he said. “We're preparing to have a plan ready to build in 2022 assuming we get the money.”

Commissioners applied for a $68 million INFRA grant earlier this month from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and while no official decisions have been made, county Commissioner Kim Geyer said she's optimistic that it will be approved.

“Our application seems to be scoring high,” Geyer said. “We expect to hear back in mid-July.”

She said the rest of the money will be raised through state and local grants and matching funds.

Once the funds are raised, Rozich said the project would take about three years to complete from the starting date.

“We're ready to make it happen, and it's going to happen,” he said.

Many residents said they were enthusiastic for the project.

“We've lived with 228 being a mess for a long time, and I'm looking forward to getting it more livable,” said Fritz Baehr of Mars. “Traffic can vary from 12 minutes to get across to 35 to 40 minutes. Just depends on the time of day.”

Rosalyn and Herschel Segall said Beaver Street Extension had become hazardous and improvements were much needed to prevent future accidents.

“The entrance to Beaver Street Extension is very dangerous,” said Rosalyn Segall. “You could sit there and wait for the accidents.”

Carole and Don Jones said they had lived in the township for more than 20 years, and the upgrade has been needed for years.

“We moved out here 24 years ago, and they were talking about building a bypass on 228,” Don Jones said. “The way the government is set up you can't build for the future; you had to build for now. Now there's no place to build a bypass anymore.”

“(Route) 228, when we moved, there were two traffic lights,” Carole Jones said. “Now from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. it's like a parking lot.”

The upgrades will be similar to those planned in the Balls Bend Project, planned for farther east down the route.

Among the changes will be roundabouts and jughandles for motorists to turn around, as drivers will not be allowed to make left turns.

Rozich said this will reduce accidents and be safer for residents.

“Safety issues and crashes are all associated with lefts in, lefts out,” Rozich said. “We want to eliminate the crashes.”