A longtime business owner shared his concerns with the county commissioners at their Wednesday meeting about the current design of the Route 228 expansion project.

Tom McMeekin, owner of Quality Gardens and the Bloom Cafe on Route 228 at the border of Middlesex and Adams townships, praised the commissioners for their efforts in securing a $20 million federal BUILD grant to have the highway expanded from Route 8 to near the intersection at Three Degree Road.

“It's long overdue and is going to be a wonderful benefit to our community in southern Butler County,” McMeekin said.

But he is concerned that the state Department of Transportation's plans for the project will negatively affect his business because traffic traveling east will not be permitted to turn left onto his property.

He said the project mirrors Route 22 in Murraysville, which is a four-lane highway with a grass median.

“It will get you from here to there in a hurry, but if you live or do business along the highway, you're in trouble,” McMeekin said.

He believes that PennDOT officials, who at first formed a citizens committee and listened to the input of locals, are now ignoring residents and business owners along Route 228 who will be affected by the expansion.

The current plans, McMeekin said, would require eastbound motorists to pass his business and proceed to a jug handle that would send them in a circle back to westbound Route 228. They would then approach Quality Gardens from the westbound lane and turn right into the business.

He said many customers stop at the Bloom Cafe for a coffee in the morning and he fears they would be unwilling to go through the jug handle to access the restaurant.

McMeekin said PennDOT engineers are not allowing left turns across traffic due to safety concerns, but sight distance at his business is excellent in both directions.

“I'm not sure where to go to try and influence their design,” McMeekin told the commissioners.

Commissioner Kim Geyer, whose farm is near the area, told McMeekin that an Adams Township ordinance prohibits left turns across traffic.

“I think you're going to want to go to Adams Township and express that perspective with them and see what they have to say,” Geyer said.

Geyer said PennDOT's plans also include the addition of a traffic signal between Quality Gardens and the Three Degree Road intersection. She suggested an access road to Quality Gardens from that light.

McMeekin did not indicate what his next step would be.