College Township works toward $3 million bike path to connect with Penn State’s campus
College Township is again pursuing funding for a bike path that would connect part of the township to Penn State’s campus.
During Tuesday’s Centre County Commissioner meeting, the board approved sending a letter of support for the project after hearing a brief overview from Mike Bloom, College Township’s assistant manager.
The College Township Regional Bike and Pedestrian Path — previously pitched as the East College Avenue Shared Use Path — is a 10-foot shared use path that would connect Puddintown Road to an existing 8-foot path near Hastings Road on Penn State’s campus, just off of University Drive, Bloom said.
“This approximately one mile path is a pretty key missing link to the existing regional bike and pedestrian network. And again, it will be viewed as an offset path off of East College Avenue, trying to get bikers and hikers and walkers off of the shoulders, away from the travel lanes into a safe facility to get them from point A to point B,” he said.
The township previously applied for a PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Fund Grant for the project in 2021. This time around, Bloom said the township is working closer with the State College Borough, which is providing some consulting support to help with the grant preparation, and are “a little closer aligned” with Penn State. The university also provided a letter of support for the project, as well as a commitment of easements. Bloom said that was a big deal, as the university is the largest property owner along the corridor.
The township is looking to break the project up into a couple different phases of grants, Bloom said. They’re applying for two grants, a Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside grant, and a $1 million Commonwealth Financing Authority grant. The two grants would contribute $2.5 million total toward the anticipated $3.3 million project, Bloom said.
College Township has committed $800,000 to the project.
As part of the land development plan for the Aspen Heights student housing complex on Squirrel Drive, the developer committed to continue the existing sidewalk along College Avenue from Squirrel Drive to Puddintown. This project will take the path from Puddintown onto campus.
The time frame is dependent upon the grant, but if the township is successful with both grants in the current funding round, construction on the project could start in 2025.
Commissioner Mark Higgins spoke of the importance of safe bike paths and routes, and emphasized that this project is a “critical” missing piece in the county.
“I had a friend pass away yesterday who was a cyclist and he was in a car-bike collision on South Atherton yesterday, so … these pedestrian paths are very important,” Higgins said. “When I go to other areas with a lot of tourism, bike paths are a major component of that. People just love to bike all over the area, from their hotel or their B&B, and just explore. In the Centre Region, you can do that for a couple of miles and then you’re on the road for a mile or two and then you’re back on a bike path.”
