Jun 25, 2014 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – A draft of the four-year state highway improvement plan that includes more than $44 million in spending for road projects in Greene County will be the subject of a public meeting July 2 at Waynesburg University.

The meeting will be held by the county and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the designated agency for the region’s transportation planning, at 5:30 p.m. on the Third Floor of the university’s Stover Hall.

Residents will have the opportunity to comment on the draft 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program, which was developed by SPC based on public input from earlier public hearings and from the state Department of Transportation.

Federal regulations require the commission to develop and maintain a TIP identifying the area’s priority transportation projects. Projects must be included in the program to become eligible for federal funding.

For Greene County, the draft includes 18 projects – 10 involving bridge replacements and four involving road resurfacing.

The other projects involve realignment of Bailey’s Crossroad on Route 21 in Cumberland Township and the reconstruction of the Sugar Run Road and Porter Street intersection and the widening of Cook Avenue, both in Franklin Township.

“The message we’re getting from PennDOT is that this is going to remain a bridge-intensive program for some time,” said Robbie Matesic, executive director of the county’s Department of Economic Development.

“PennDOT has been very responsive to Greene County’s needs,” she said, citing several “big ticket” projects that have just been completed or are ongoing, including replacement of the Masontown Bridge, the Morrisville bridge and railroad overpass replacement project and the construction of the bridge over the railroad tracks and Ten Mile Creek on Route 218 in Waynesburg.

Projects included in the draft TIP address the county’s needs and “for now, it’s OK,” Matesic said. The county has about 90 structurally deficient bridges that have to be repaired and road resurfacing is important because of conditions exacerbated by the extraction industries.

“Now,” Matesic said, “we need to rethink the program and get projects submitted for future funding.”

Matesic urged residents and local municipal officials to attend the meeting to comment on what they believe should be the county’s priorities for highway improvements.

“We need the municipalities to come forward and tell us where they see problems arising in the future. We need a robust plan for the future,” she said.

Projects the county would like to see added to the TIP include the continuation of improvements to the Morrisville corridor and the realignment of the Route 221 and Route 19 intersection in Ruff Creek.

Matesic noted one of the problems rural counties such as Greene are facing involves changes in the formula for federal highway money.

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP-21, directs federal highway money to high-priority roads such as interstate highways and other heavily traveled routes.

Before, federal highway money could be used on road projects throughout the county. Under MAP-21, only two roads primarily qualify for federal funding: Interstate 79 and the section of Route 21, from Waynesburg east to the county line.

Some of the major projects included in the 2015-2018 draft TIP are:

• The realignment of Baileys Crossroad on Route 21; construction is scheduled to start in 2016; estimated cost is $4.9 million.

• The resurfacing of Route 18 from Route 21 to the county line in Franklin, Washington and Morris townships; work is expected to start in 2015; estimated cost is $6.9 million.

• The reconstruction of the Sugar Run Road and Porter Street intersection; construction is expected to start in 2017; estimated costs is $3.1 million.

• The resurfacing of Route 21, from Browns Creek , 5.87 miles west; construction will start in 2016; estimate costs $4.4 million.

• The resurfacing of Route 218 from Bluff Ridge Road to Cook Avenue in Franklin Township, work is expected to begin in 2018, estimated cost, $4.1 million.

•The resurfacing of Route 21, from Ridge Road to Gwynn Road in Jefferson Township, work expected to start in 2015; estimated cost, $3 million.

•The widening of Cook Avenue in Franklin Township, work is expected to begin in 2018; estimated cost $2.8 million.

• Bridges that will be replaced are: Route 1011 bridge over South Fork Ten Mile Creek, Jefferson Township; Route 1014 bridge over Castile Run, Morgan Township; Route 1016 bridge over Little Whiteley Creek, Monongahela Township; Route 2003 bridge over Ten Mile Creek, Franklin Township; Route 3001 bridge over Wheeling Creek, Richhill Township; County Bridge No. 15, Route 634 over Muddy Creek, Cumberland Township; County Bridge No. 55, Route 349 over Bloody Run, Gilmore Township; County Bridge No. 36, Route 353 over Muddy Creek, Wayne Township; Route 572 bridge over Whiteley Creek, Whiteley Township; and County Bridge No. 78 over Owens Run, Richhill Township.

Comments will be accepted by SPC representatives at the meeting. Written comments also can be submitted to comment@spcregion.org or by mail to SPC Comments, Two Chatham Center, Suite 500, 112 Washington Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. All comments must be received by July 18.