Another round of meetings ‘tentatively’ set for State College Area Connector Project
More public meetings are planned for the State College Area Connector Study.
Details of the upcoming meeting are sparse, but the state Department of Transportation encourages the public to save the date to attend the next round of public meetings on the State College Area Connector Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL) Study in southern Centre County.
The meetings are “tentatively” set for the evenings of Oct. 19 and 20 at the Mount Nittany Middle School in Boalsburg, a release from PennDOT states.
“More specific details will be shared as plans evolve,” the release states.
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 project has been in the works for more than a decade.
The PEL study will identify existing and projected transportation needs within the study area, which encompasses 70 square miles of southern Centre County, including portions of Potter, Spring, Harris, College and Benner townships, and Centre Hall Borough. The study is being done by PennDOT in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration.
Six of the nine proposed routes for the State College Area Connector would bring the project through the U.S. Route 322 corridor. One of those six is to upgrade the existing highway, while the remaining five would first bring the project south of the road. Several Centre County farmers have expressed concern that the project could destroy their farming operations.
A draft report expected to rule out two-thirds of the potential options for a major highway construction project in rural Centre County is set to be available for public review in mid-September, slightly later than planned, PennDOT told the CDT in July.
More information on the study can be found at www.PennDOT.pa.gov/SCAC.
