PennDOT presents plan
MIDDLESEX TWP — The final Route 228 improvement alternative in the township is a compromise between the straight highway recommended by the state Department of Transportation and the online version preferred by residents.
A steady stream of residents and regular Route 228 motorists on Wednesday evening attended an open house at the municipal building to see the final plans for the section of the busy highway between Old Route 8 South and the western end of Ball's Bend.
The $24 million project, which could begin in 2021, would dip south of Allemande Drive as it crosses Harbison Road to eliminate the sweeping curve there.
The new route would then cut off Ball's Bend and reconnect with Route 228 on the western end of the bend.
The busy, often-congested road would be widened to two lanes in each direction with turn lanes in certain areas.
PennDOT project manager Mark Rozich said a committee of residents, business owners, farmers and others was formed as a result of the unpopular alternative released in November, which cut a straight swath through the landscape from Old Route 8 South to the end of Ball's Bend.
He said the committee's input was considered by PennDOT engineers, who came up with an alternative that has less impact on farms and homes and more on environmental features in the area.
Rozich said engineers also consulted the Federal Highway Administration and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
He said his team worked to address the residents' concerns while focusing on safety in creating a new alternative route.
“We came up with a conclusion that just kind of balances all these needs,” Rozich said.
He said the design and property-acquisition phases of the project are funded. He said six or seven properties could be taken.
The next step, Rozich said, is to determine the side-road tie-ins.
“We will try to make sense for the neighborhoods and people who live on side roads, and consider future development,” he said.
Ellen Hawkins Flemma, who owns her late parents' farm on Harbison Road with her siblings, said the new alternative will take a little less farmland.“We were pleased that PennDOT set up the committee, and were willing to accept input from the citizens,” Flemma said. “We feel they compromised from their original plan.”Tim Kuntz, whose Route 228 home of 18 years will be taken in the project, served on the PennDOT committee as a representative for other residents.He said the online alternative was the most expensive and least safe.“There are a lot of blind spots, so the realignment is really going to increase safety,” Kuntz said.He said every alternative posed would have impacted his home.“We were just as glad to lose the property than to live on a highway,” Kuntz said.Flemma summed up the thoughts of most residents who attended the forum on Wednesday night.“It's a big disruption in a lot of people's lives who never thought it was going to happen,” she said. “You can't possibly please everyone and give everyone what they want.”
