PennDOT seeks input on Highland Road plan

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Highland Road would be widened to add a center turning lane between Pa. Route 18 and Buhl Farm Drive under a plan proposed by the state.
The project is in the design stage, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wants to get some public views on the construction plans.
Actual improvements on the road aren't scheduled until 2005.
PennDOT will have a public meeting at 5 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Hermitage municipal building at 800 N. Hermitage Road to present design proposals and discuss right-of-way impact.
Members of the project team will be on hand for a question-and-answer session with the public.
That 1.1-mile section of Highland Road has no sidewalks and is only two lanes wide yet is heavily traveled. A large number of businesses and a pair of churches are along that stretch, and the state thinks traffic flow would be aided by creating a designated turning lane.
Paul Miller, a PennDOT engineer, said the work also will involve the reconfiguration of the Highland Road intersections with Clarksville Road and Buhl Farm Drive.