CENTER TWP — The township supervisors have a tentative plan for a new east-west road that would connect North Duffy Road and Lions Road.

A design was prepared for the township by Gateway Engineers, who estimated that the road would cost between $1.4 million and $1.5 million to construct, Supervisor Chairman Ed Latuska said at Wednesday night's meeting.

The supervisors plan to apply for grant money that would cover some or all of the costs associated with the project.

They have created a special zoning district for the area that would allow for the construction of medical or professional offices. They are not interested in having big box stores or gas stations built there, Supervisor Ron Flatt said.

The new road would help spur economic development near the new VA Butler Healthcare facility and also benefit the community by creating better traffic flow, Flatt said.

The township has already purchased a house and property at the bend in North Duffy Road, which would be torn down for the road to be built, but other property acquisitions have not been negotiated.

Dale Herald, who lives on North Duffy Road, owns some of the property that the road would go through. It is currently being used as farm land.

Herald said he favors the plan for the new road and would be interested in leasing his property to businesses.

“There's a lot of good future use for it,” he said.

The road also could be extended south to connect to the Route 422 and Route 356 interchange in Butler Township.

Also Wednesday night, the supervisors voted to give tentative approval to Duffy Highlands, a planned residential development proposed for the other side of North Duffy Road from the new VA facility.

The development, proposed by Brennan Builders of Evans City, would include 110 homes on 43.3 acres and would be marketed to “empty nesters.”

The developer will seek final approval for the first phase of development next month.