The public hearing PennDOT held Tuesday on plans for the State College Area Connector project drew a crowd of residents, many of whom said they see the need to improve road safety on the stretch of U.S. Route 322 the project targets, but who are also concerned about the impact on farmland, the environment and neighborhoods.
“There could be some heavy traffic in our front yard," said Scott McAllister, who lives in the Tusseyville area of Potter Township, before the hearing started.
“You’re discouraged when you’ve lived there for 45 years and then that’s going to happen," he said, adding, "but … that’s life.”
The event, held at the Calvary Church on Harvest Fields Drive, included an open house before the hearing, with maps showing where PennDOT is looking to put the new highway. Like others, McAllister said he was there to get more information.
Here's a PennDOT simulated flyover of the proposed route from July 2025:
Dick Decker lives in Centre Hall and is on the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization, which focuses on transportation planning.
“Nobody wants it in their backyard, but I hope we can reach a compromise that gets the new road to State College," Decker said. "We need something.”
The State College Area Connector project will create an eight-mile limited access highway between Boalsburg, in Harris Township, and Potters Mills, in Potter Township. It’s meant to address road safety and increasing traffic.
The project could cost as much as $1 billion, according to the latest estimates.
Dan Guss, president of the Center County Farmland Trust, said his understanding is that the preferred route won’t impact farmland the trust has preserved. But, he said, personally, he would like to see a lower-impact, lower-speed alternative that uses techniques such as traffic circles, rather than a new highway.
“It might take another one minute to get through this area if you had a little bit slower speed road," Guss said. "But it would cause a lot less impact and probably be a more beautiful road.”
Eric Murnyack, assistant district executive for design at PennDOT District 2, said the public feedback is important.
"We've gotten a lot of comments over the years where people will point out something that they don't agree with on a map," he said. "And whether it's a resource we missed that didn't show up in a survey or whether it's something in somebody's backyard that they've been dealing with their entire life — those are the types of things that come out in these meetings. And it really helps us because, you know, we do put boots on the ground, but you can't catch everything."
The hearing was part of the review process for the draft of the Environmental Impact Statement. Murnyack said PennDOT will look at all the comments the draft gets and adjust the plans as needed before submitting the Environmental Impact Statement for federal review in the fall. He said construction on the larger parts of the project could begin in 2030, with a goal of starting work on smaller sections in 2028.
The public has until April 20 to submit comments on this phase through the PennDOT project website.
