Big Changes, Big Developments for Route 228

Cranberry Township has the wheels in motion for a major makeover to Route 228.

At Thursday’s board meeting, John Trant, Cranberry’s chief strategic planning officer, updated township supervisors on master plans for Route 288, one of the township’s most heavily-trafficked corridors. 

Several developments have begun or hope to begin construction along Route 228 in 2011 or 2012 They include , a proposed shopping center on a former campground with an 80,000-square-foot Dick’s Sporting Goods store as its centerpiece, and The Village of Cranberry Woods, which includes a Hilton Garden Inn hotel.

Trant said the township is in talks to partner with these developments to enhance Route 228 by widening the highway and improving its intersection with Franklin Road. Also on the list of improvements is the alignment of Old Mars Road with Mars Crider Road at their intersection on Franklin Road.

Trant said Mine Safety Appliances Co., which has a manufacturing plant in the Cranberry Woods office park, already has offered to partner with the township to improve the road.

Those aren’t the only changes in store for commuters.

At the same time, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has plans to build new northbound and southbound ramps from Rt. 228 to Interstate 79. Trant said the construction of the ramps means drivers wouldn’t have to turn left from Route 228 to access the interstate highway.

The planning officer said the township is working with PennDOT to match the design and construction plans for Route 228. Construction for the ramps is slated for late 2012.

The improvements won’t come cheap. Trant said the total cost for the project is $35 million to $40 million, with PennDOT providing $20 million for the ramps.

“So you’re looking at an additional $15 to $20 million,” he told board members.

None of the designs is final, said Trant. Neither is the money, although Trant said the township is in talks with developers to fund the improvements.

This also isn’t the first master plan the township has seen for Route 228.

Simon Properties Group had plans for a major development, which included retail, office and residential space, along Route 228. After seven years of planning, the development group backed out in January of 2009, primarily because of an impasse with PennDOT in financing improvements to the road.

The move left townships officials disappointed, but Supervisor Dick Hadley and board President John Skorupan said they are pleased with the new developments coming to the corridor as well as the planned improvements to the road.

“We were all upset when [the deal with] Simon fell apart,” Skorupan said. “In reality, this is even better. 

Hadley said the new developments should attract more high-paying jobs to Cranberry.

“This is smart growth,” Hadley said “The result is you’re getting positive economic development.”