State College Area Connector’s upper estimate tops $1B, public hearing scheduled
The estimated cost of the preferred State College Area Connector route now ranges from $843 million to $1.06 billion, up about 20% from the most recent projection offered by Pennsylvania’s highway agency.
The early estimate, included in a newly-released draft environmental impact statement, could change as planning and engineering becomes more detailed.
As of December, the state Department of Transportation said the preliminary cost estimate was between $700 million and $900 million. During a 2019 press conference — before the coronavirus pandemic and much earlier in the planning process — former Gov. Tom Wolf said the project was estimated to cost about $670 million.
PennDOT Assistant District Executive Eric Murnyack said Monday that the latest increase, in part, was reflective of designers gathering more detailed information. He said the agency is still only about 30% of the way through the design phase.
Murnyack also pointed to inflation, which has increased by roughly 29% since February 2019. Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wolf’s estimate from 2019 would put the project at about $864 million in current dollars — within PennDOT’s latest range.
The project is currently advancing with 100% state discretionary funding, though PennDOT and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration said federal funding opportunities will be investigated.
It is one of the four most expensive transportation projects of its kind in Pennsylvania history. Some of the Connector’s comparable projects are in either the Harrisburg or Philadelphia areas.
The project proposes to construct a new eight-mile, four-lane limited access highway from the four-lane section of Mount Nittany Expressway near state route 45 to U.S. Route 322 at Potters Mills. Much the highway would run through rolling agricultural terrain, traversing Harris and Potter townships.
PennDOT released the draft environmental impact statement Friday, a 222-page document that details the Connector’s estimated scope. The public can review and comment on the document through April 20.
A public hearing is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. April 7 at Calvary Church, 150 Harvest Fields Drive. PennDOT and the Federal Highway Administration said private testimony will be accepted beginning at 4 p.m. Feedback can also be submitted online.
Fifteen residential buildings, two commercial structures and one church — Grace Church on Mountain Back Road — would be displaced by PennDOT’s recommended route. Eighteen farms and about 140 acres of productive agricultural land would see “notable impacts.”
Six of the 29 acres that belong to the Potter Township Athletic Complex would be taken, though PennDOT said no developed recreational facilities — including the two baseball fields and parking area — would be affected.
The report also said 15 acres of wetlands and about 3,800 linear feet of streams would be lost.
Annual average daily traffic on the existing highway is projected to increase by at least 32% by 2050, while truck traffic is estimated to increase at least 25% over the same period. Without the Connector, PennDOT said there would be significant delays and likely more crashes throughout the entire two-lane section of U.S. Route 322.
Phased construction is expected to start in 2030 and end in 2035. It would provide the missing link of a four-lane highway that extends from the interstate connections in the Harrisburg area.
