PennDOT officials discuss design, funding for final phase of Route 228 improvement project
SEVEN FIELDS — Design work for the last leg of the Route 228 improvement project is slated to wrap up in late 2027, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said during a public meeting on Thursday.
While it would be a major step forward for what’s known as the Mars Railroad West Expansion, officials noted there is currently no construction funding for the project. However, PennDOT senior project manager Amanda Olbeter said the funding process is underway.
“Butler County is looking for a lot of grants to try to help fund the project,” she said. “It’s such a big project and that’s why we want to have it funded further out, because that’s when the money will be available.”
If funding were secured, she noted construction could begin as soon as 2028.
In the meantime, PennDOT has begun acquiring the necessary right-of-ways, which includes 89 parcels and three displacements, two of which are businesses.
“That’s a big hurdle,” Olbeter said. “We have to make sure we clear all the property that we need to build the project. Those (displacements) take about a year or two to go through the process as well.”
The 3-mile project will widen the corridor to two lanes in each direction, add new turn lanes and traffic signals, and replace several bridge structures to improve safety and traffic flow, according to Brent Barrett, a contracted engineer with Whitman, Requardt and Associates.
Sidewalks and crosswalks will connect intersections such as Franklin Road, Castle Creek Drive, High Pointe Drive, Seven Fields Boulevard and Adams Ridge.
When completed, it would create a continuous four-lane stretch from Cranberry to Adams Township — an improvement decades in the making.
Olbeter said the final design phase is about “taking everything — all the decisions that were made during preliminary engineering — and basically finalizing them to get the project ready for bid.”
However, it will still hinge on whether or not the push for funding is successful.
“If we get done with design in 2027 but we don’t have the funding, it’s going to sit there until we get the funding,” she said. “But I feel like with this area we tend to get a lot more luck with getting the funding.”
According to Barrett, in addition to acquiring necessary permitting throughout the design phase, a noise study is also being conducted.
“I know as part of our contract we are working on a noise study in the area,” he said. “We’re looking to see if there are areas that require noise canceling walls and other work.”
District 10 engineer Chad Mosco said the most complex aspect of the project is maintaining traffic flow along one of the region’s busiest corridors.
“The biggest challenge of this corridor is the traffic — dealing with 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles a day — and coordinating that so you don’t disrupt it,” he said. “All of those little nuances with development we try to do our best, so whenever everyone cuts the ribbon, there’s no flaws.”
Mosco said property owners along the corridor will begin hearing from PennDOT as right of way acquisition efforts continue over the next two years.
“All the property owners will be contacted,” he said. “They’ll be given what we’re trying to purchase and appraisals will be done and offers will be made. We try to keep up with the townships and the boroughs just to let them know. Usually we try to do either monthly or quarterly updates so they know the progress.”
