A large number of local residents heard more about plans to expand a section of Route 228 in Adams Township Thursday night.
PennDOT officials and project team members provided updates on current plans for the Route 228 Mars Railroad Bridge Project.
The proposed project includes widening a roughly 3.25-mile portion of the road from just west of Franklin Road intersection to about a half mile east of the Beaver Street Extension intersection. In that section, Route 228 would go from two lanes (one in each direction) to four lanes (two in each direction). Construction could begin in 2022.
County Commissioner Kim Geyer was one of those in attendance at the presentation and said that this is a huge priority for the county since a lot of revenue could be gained by improvements to this road. The county made application for federal funding for this project earlier this year and hopes to hear if they received a grant by the end of July.
Another person attending the presentation was Mars Area School District Superintendent Dr. Wes Shipley. This section of the 228 project is not the one that could go very close to the Mars Primary Center. Instead Shipley learned about how school transportation could be affected. Shipley did say that PennDOT representatives responded to a recent letter about district concerns and discussions are ongoing.
