The project has been added to the region’s Transportation Improvement Program – a requirement for a project to be funded in future years.

“You can get on and off on the west side,” County Planner Dan Glotz said. “(There is) no entrance or exit for the eastern side.”

An analysis by the consulting firm Baker International resulted in six options being developed with two alternatives being “advanced for consideration,” according to the firm’s report.

Those alternatives would create “a more efficient connection between these two state routes” and would “provide a direct link to US 6 for truck traffic…”

Photo from the consulting report on the Main Ave. overpass Option D, the report states, would cost $1.55 million.

“The one that I’m recommending takes very little if any right of way,” Glotz said. “There’s a way to make this whole thing fit.”

Glotz said that not needing to take additional property would “be a better deal for everybody.”

He noted, though, that no final decisions on the layout had been made.

The report identifies that “the lack of a full interchange has resulted in motor carriers and other traffic using Pleasant Drive and a variety of other roadways in accessing US 6 eastbound.”

Focus groups, the report states, were held last spring and summaries of those sessions were included in the report. Pleasant Township identified that the trucks proceed through a residential area while City of Warren staff noted a “noticeable increase in the volume of truck traffic exiting US 6 and turning onto Crescent Park. That road is posted, with weight restrictions that truckers either ignore or are unaware of.”

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton County and regional officials are exploring entry and exit options for US 6 heading – and coming from – the east.

Business stakeholder meetings where held that identified that “navigating the area is a big issue for drivers not familiar with the area,” according to the report, and further noted that “for Superior Tire, a lot of their commodities travel east into Sheffield and onto I-80. Traveling through Pleasant Township is an issue.”

The consulting firm noted that the “identified needs” include a need to “create efficient connectivity from local traffic generators to US 6 in both directions” as well as to “reduce truck traffic through the residential areas along Pleasant Drive.”

According to the TIP – available online at http://www.northwestpa.org/transplan/ – the project “includes the construction of a new off ramp” with $300,000 in funding set aside for preliminary design in 2022. The TIP states that the estimated “let date” – when bids would be open for the project – is projected for Jan. 12, 2023.

Glotz acknowledged it’s a “few years out” but said “at least we’ve got it on the radar now through the department.”

The report states that the Commission will work with the county “to review and vet the two preferred alternatives and then coordinate with PennDOT to program improvements identified to advance.”

Option A, according to the report, comes at a price of $1.87 million in addition to funds needed for right of way acquisition “for the westbound off ramp to Main Ave.”

Option D, the report states, would cost $1.55 million.