PennDOT recently announced its preferred route for the State College Connector Project, along Route 322.
In a statement, officials said they are going forward with the center option.
Now, several business owners in Potter Township are voicing concerns over the proposed highway project.
They say the newly proposed connector route, south of Route 322, will block access to their storefronts, and without a nearby exit, they worry their business will be left behind.
PennDOT says the goal of the long-awaited project is aimed at connecting Route 322, in Potters Mills, to the Mount Nittany Expressway near Boalsburg.
“We’ve been trying to work with PennDOT and ask them for an access onto the new road. And they have said that they will not be granting that because there’s not enough car count that we’ll be getting off at that, at the
interchange for this area,”
Owners say they are now deeply worried due to no exits near their businesses for this proposed highway.
“We understand that with a new road, those cars are not going to pass the business. But if there’s an interchange here, then there’s an access point, that’s local to this area, and cars will get off and cars will visit our
business.”
They say with no access points local to their area, customer traffic will decrease for businesses, which owners fear will lead to eventual closures.
“History is, we just don’t see that happening in other areas, where there’s been development and new roads put in. People don’t get off the highway and travel four miles to a business. So, we feel that if we don’t have an access point here, that our businesses that are here are gonna fail.”
Owners are now turning to elected officials to help get access points onto the proposed highway, therefore saving their businesses.
Business owners in Potter Township add that they have formed a coalition, and they now urge the public to attend PennDOT’s public meeting on Thursday, at 4 p.m., in Boalsburg.
The meeting will let the public ask questions and offer feedback on the Connector Project.