PennDOT makes long-awaited recommendation for State College Area Connector route
Pennsylvania’s transportation agency made public Monday its long-awaited recommendation for a major highway construction project in Centre County.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recommended the central alternative for the State College Area Connector project, the alignment most preferred by those who responded to a public survey.
The proposed route would largely run just south of the existing U.S. Route 322 in Potter and Harris townships, except a stretch roughly between Bamboo Lane and Tait Road. That section would see construction north of the existing highway.
The project is estimated to cost between $600 million and $900 million, a PennDOT spokesman wrote in an email to the Centre Daily Times.
Sixteen residences would be displaced by the construction of the new highway, though PennDOT said that was the least of the final three options it was considering. Two commercial properties would be disturbed, as well as a park. One appears to be the Potter Township Athletic Complex.
Nineteen farms and 163 acres of farmland would also be affected.
The agency said the suggested route would have the smallest total effect on agricultural land and four historic properties, as well as avoid the Tusseyville historic district.
More than a dozen bridges would be needed to mitigate impacts to wetlands and streams, the only drawback listed by PennDOT. Fifteen were listed among the other two potential routes. The agency cast the potential for encountering sinkholes as moderate.
PennDOT said 36% of survey respondents preferred the central route. The south alternative was supported by 35% of respondents, while only 18% preferred the north alternative. Eleven percent sought a combination or other alternative.
Renderings included in public documents showed a potential multiuse path being formed from the existing Route 322 between Discovery Drive and Bear Meadows Road in Harris Township.
A public meeting is scheduled for 4-8 p.m. Thursday at Wyndham Garden State College, 310 Elks Club Road in Boalsburg. Attendees may ask questions and offer feedback. Meeting materials are available online.
Residents and business owners have waited years to learn of PennDOT’s recommendation, fearing it could upend their livelihoods or see their homes taken through eminent domain.
The project would create an about eight-mile, four-lane limited access highway connecting the Mount Nittany Expressway in Boalsburg to the newly constructed portion of Route 322 in Potters Mills. With regional growth projected in future decades, PennDOT has said the project will improve safety and reduce congestion by diverting about half of total traffic and nearly three-fourths of truck traffic from local roads.
In order to gain final approval, the Federal Highway Administration must also sign off on certain environmental aspects of the project. From there, the project would head into a final engineering design phase that’s expected to last from mid-2026 until the end of 2029.
That phase would be followed by right-of-way acquisition. Construction is not expected to begin until 2030 and would take about six years to complete.
This story was originally published May 5, 2025 at 2:31 PM.