Adams Township received more than $2.5 million from the state Department of Transportation on Friday, Sept. 8, for the third and final phase of its Three Degree Road reconstruction project.

Township manager Gary Peaco said the project was in jeopardy after the second phase came in $2.5 million over bid from inflation following the pandemic.

“We were going to have very little money left over for phase three,” he said. “I think we had like $700,000 left, and it was estimated to be $3.5 million — pushing $4 million. That’s why we requested the additional $2.5 million, so we could do phase three as we originally planned.”

The township sent its request to PennDOT in late June, acting on an agreement with the department to request additional funds should costs increase.

“We thank PennDOT, and we thank Cory Shaffer who’s our municipal service representative who’s been working with us,” Peaco said.

The township also extended its thanks to state Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., R-47th, and state Rep. Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th, for their assistance as the sought funding.

“This was a long process, and I am grateful it turned into a positive result,” Scialabba said in a statement Friday. “I’d like to thank Adams Township officials for their due diligence on this important issue, as well as PennDOT for supplying the funding.”

Meanwhile, phase two of the project is nearing completion, according to Peaco.

“I would say substantial completion by the end of the month,” he said. “Restoration and whatnot probably will take us into October sometime.”

Spanning Three Degree Road from Mars Area Middle School to its intersection with Hammond Road, Peaco said the second phase has “gone very well.”

“Unfortunately, it’s a really big inconvenience for folks that live on there,” he said. “But, generally, people have been very, very patient because they can see the final product.”

Peaco said work on the third phase of the project — which stretches from Three Degree Road’s intersection with Hammond Road to its intersection north at Union Church Road — will depend on the release of PennDOT’s funds.

“I’m hoping by the end of this year we get a better understanding of when that’s coming,” he said. “Then we can go ahead and proceed with phase three and they can start whenever early in 2024.”

With the help of the funds, the township hopes to complete phase three by the end of 2024.

“It’s good stuff,” Peaco said. “We’re very fortunate that we were able to do this project the way we really wanted to get it done.”