Next step in State College Area Connector study will begin this week. Here’s what to know
The state Department of Transportation will soon begin conducting traffic counts for the State College Area Connector study.
Beginning this week, crews will set up equipment to assist in counting and documenting traffic along the U.S. Route 322 between Boalsburg and Potter Mills, state Route 45 between Old Fort and Boalsburg, and at key intersections along both roadways within the study area, according to a release. Equipment setup will be on Dec. 1 and traffic counts will take place intermittently through Dec. 9.
The equipment for the traffic counts includes small cameras that will be temporarily attached to existing utility or traffic signals, the release states. It will not impact traffic along the roadways. Staff may be in the field to support some traffic count activity, depending on the location.
Then, beginning the week of Dec. 12, members of PennDOT’s consultant team will work along U.S. Route 322 and state Route 45 for two weeks to verify environmental features and obtain additional data within the study area. Weather permitting, this work will resume in January 2023.
The goal of the SCAC project is to improve a 13-mile stretch of U.S. Route 322 from the Seven Mountains to State College. The highway handles about 15,000 vehicles daily and is expected to see a 27% increase in annual average daily traffic by 2050, while daily truck volume is expected to increase by 31%.
Previously, there were nine possible routes that the state Department of Transportation was exploring through its planning and environmental linkage study. A report released by PennDOT in September ruled out two-thirds of the potential options and identified three routes that should move forward for further study.
All three routes would bring the State College Area Connector project through the U.S. Route 322 corridor. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s report in its current state did not recommend moving forward with any of the three routes that would have run through the state Route 144 corridor.
The controversial project has drawn pushback from many home and business owners in the area, who say they could lose their livelihood due to the project. Some locally elected officials have also been outspoken about it. The project has been on the drawing board for nearly two decades, but was abandoned in 2004 when funding was pulled by the federal government.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced during a 2019 press conference that funding would come from the state. The three proposed routes have an estimated price tag that ranges from $432 million to $517 million.
