After years of construction work, county officials say phase one of the Route 228 project in Cranberry Township is nearing the end.
Butler County Director of Planning Mark Gordon says the work in between Commonwealth Drive and Haine School Road is just about complete.
That now means Phase 2 of that project, which stretches from Freedom Road to Beaver County is now in the planning process.
“There are those things that you can’t see. Final design in engineering, acquisition of rightaways, working with landowners, and working through the process to be as least disruptive as possible and to treat people fairly,” Gordon said.
He also says the second phase of the project is seeing a rise in price due to increasing construction costs. Cranberry Township is increasing their contribution by $300,000 to $4.05 million. The county is setting aside $4 million for the project, while PennDOT is putting up nearly $7 million.
But, he says the amount of money the federal government has contributed is the reason why they’re moving forward.
“Those two federal awards coming in at $45 million has been unprecedented here in Butler County. We’ve never gotten money like that out of the feds. This is a big first,” Gordon said.
The money was a part of a program known as BUILD grants. Gordon said securing the funding was the work of multiple people and represented a bipartisan effort.
“Lots of help by lots of folks. We had wonderful assistance by Congressmen Kelly, Thompson, and Lamb along with Senators Toomey and Casey,” Gordon said.
Gordon stressed the economic importance of the project, citing a recent study that found the 10.2 mile stretch of Route 228 generates $30 billion in GDP on an annual basis.
Gordon believes excavating on Phase Two of the project could begin as soon as next spring.
