Bike path to connect East College Avenue to Penn State’s campus gets financial boost
A shared-use path connecting East College Avenue to the Penn State campus is closer to coming to fruition after College Township received $500,000 to support the project.
The township was awarded the Multimodal Transportation Fund grant earlier this week, Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, announced in a press release. The money will support constructing a roughly 10-foot-wide shared-use path along East College Avenue from Puddintown Road to an already existing path near Hastings Road on campus, in the State College borough.
The project, which has been in the works for a few years, would provide “much-needed improvements along this vital corridor to campus and the downtown area,” Takac said in the release.
The path will provide a “safe, offset and continuous connection” along East College Avenue, which sees a high volume of daily traffic, a grant application states.
The total project cost is estimated to be $3.3 million, Mike Bloom, the township’s assistant manager told the Centre Daily Times. In addition to the Multimodal Transportation Fund grant, the township also applied for a $1.5 million PennDOT Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside grant. Those awards are expected to be announced in the spring, Bloom said. The township previously committed $800,000 to the project.
Dustin Best, College Township Council chair, said the township is “very pleased” to receive this funding and pointed to the importance of the path.
“This highly anticipated project had previously been identified as a missing link in the regional transportation network in the township’s Pedestrian Facilities Plan, Centre Region Bike Plan and Penn State’s Bicycle Master Plan,” Best said in the release.
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 Road. This project will take the path from Puddintown onto campus.
Bloom said the schedule included in the grant application anticipated it would take about 22 months to advance the project from design through construction. Construction could potentially begin in late 2025 to 2026.
Other transportation projects
Several other Centre County municipalities were also awarded funds this week. The grants were awarded through the Multimodal Transportation Fund, administered by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, which provides grants for economic development and to ensure a safe and reliable system of transportation is available to residents, the release states.
Snow Shoe Township received $118,688 for ongoing rehabilitation to Kato Road.
Gregg Township received $400,000 for Phase 2 of the Bitner Hollow Road-Middle Road project.
Philipsburg Borough received $309,989 for construction along Powder Magazine Road and Port Matilda Highway.
Taylor Township received $200,000 to repave South Mountain Road.
Rush Township received $104,000 to make improvements along Medical Center Drive.
This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 2:31 PM.
