It's better to have a foot in the door than to be locked outside with no hope of gaining access.

That's the attitude rightly being expressed by officials in this county who recognize the importance of the Route 228 improvement project getting started — and later being built upon.

The foot in the door in this instance is a further scaled-back project that involves construction of two new ramps aimed at reducing congestion between Route 228 and Interstate 79.

Gone for now is the original full-scale improvement plan as well as a pared-down version encompassing the area from Route 19 to Seven fields.

The thinking is that with the ramps project workable, the state will have a greater incentive to pursue the ultimate Route 228 goal — widening of the entire highway between Routes 19 and 8, a distance of about 10 miles.

Considering all that's happened over the past seven years, that will involve an unceasing and united effort by officials and groups such as the Route 228 Regional Corridor Alliance, Cranberry Area Chamber of Commere, Community Development Corporation of Butler County, lawmakers representing Western Pennsylvania, as well as others, to keep the project in the forefront.

While behind-the-scenes efforts are important, it's also important for the project to remain in the headlines to demonstrate this county's resolve on behalf of the highway project to the state Department of Transportation and Gov. Ed Rendell's administration.

With so much attention in Pennsylvania being devoted to fixing deteriorated bridges and crumbling highways, new highway construction and major expansions of existing roadways have unfortunately taken a back seat. But major improvements and new construction aren't necessarily dead; ways must be found to make them happen.

The attitude must be that the long-awaited Cranberry Connector project at one time seemed doomed — and, in fact, was officially put on hold.

But a way was found to make it happen, and the result has been a blessing to the Cranberry area, although Route 19 through the Cranberry business district still has its share of local-traffic congestion.

However, it would be much worse if the connector were not in place for through traffic.

"Ultimately, Route 228 needs to be improved through the whole corridor," said Jerry Andree, Cranberry Township manager. "The whole community knows it's (ramps project) a great start, but it's only a start."

"It's a small piece of the entire project, but it's still a piece of it," said Susan Balla, former chairwoman of the Cranberry Chamber who was instrumental in formation of the Corridor Alliance. "That's obviously a step forward."

It's important for improvement to continue to move eastward toward Route 8. This county would be blessed to have a federal lawmaker like former U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, who represented Bedford and Blair counties and was adept at bringing federal money for new road construction to his district.

Times and priorities have changed, and new-construction money has dried up, when compared with what was available several decades ago, when Shuster could guide highway money to his district.

Nevertheless, Route 228 must continue to remain in the spotlight and Butler County must refuse to accept defeat in terms of the large-scale project.

The road project will require commitment and persistence by anyone with the power to twist arms and argue the highway's case. The project will require unity unlike what has been seen up to now.

The foot is in the door — and there is no acceptable alternative but to continue prying the door open.