Bonniebrook Road is the lone candidate in Butler County for the state Multimodal Transportation Fund program.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced this week that 42 highway, bridge, transit, ports and waterways, and bike and pedestrian projects have been earmarked for $49 million in funding through the Multimodal Transportation Fund.

“With these resources, we can improve transportation connections down to the local level and make a big difference for communities,” Wolf said for commitment to all modes of transportation, both statewide and locally.

Bonniebrook Road will receive $1.29 million to reconstruct drainage, resurface the road and improve shoulders from Route 356 in Jefferson Township to Route 422 in Summit Township, said Rich Kirkpatrick of the state Department of Transportation.

The stretch of road to be improved is 6.5 miles long. Bonniebrook Road from Route 422 north to Chicora Road is not included in the project.

Kirkpatrick said the request for Multimodal Transportation funds came in a joint application from Summit and Jefferson townships.

John Cypher, a Jefferson Township supervisor, and Roxann Stickney, the Summit Township secretary/treasurer, agreed that while Bonniebrook Road was once a rural lane winding through the countryside, it is now a heavily traveled corridor that carries commuters from Route 356 in southeastern Butler County to Route 422 and back.

“It is used so heavily that there is continuous wear,” Cypher said. “There's far more traffic than was ever intended.”

Cypher recalls when Bonniebrook Road was so lightly traveled that sections were dirt, causing vehicles to become stuck in certain weather.

Stickney said the two townships collaborated to apply for the funds because the road in both townships is in bad shape.

“This way, we can do the entire road through both townships,” she said.

She agreed with Cypher regarding the road's current use.

“Bonniebrook Road is what you call a bypass road,” Stickney said. “People use it to get from Route 422 to Route 356 and vice versa, so you have a very high volume of traffic.”

Cypher said he expects the work to commence in 2019 or 2020.