PROJECT MANAGER: Tim Zinkham, Supervisor, Engineering Services, 724-776-4806 x 1183
PROJECT NAME: Northwest Connector Project Map
Project Overview: The Heights Drive Extension project will link the northwestern quadrant of the Township to Rt. 19, providing a safer north-south travel route from Bear Run Road – a narrow, winding road, near Cranberry Highlands, to Rt. 19. A committee of neighborhood residents met extensively and successfully with Township officials to identify traffic calming measures that will deter excessive speeding and provide a collector road that moves traffic safely and at a reasonable rate of speed. Cranberry Township is actively searching for alternative funding sources to help offset the estimated cost of this more than $2 million dollar project.
PROJECT COMPONENTS and PROJECT PROGESSION
Environmental Clearances: After a period of study the required environmental clearances have been secured. No Massagua rattlesnakes have been found. The original, proposed layout of the new road now goes to final design.
Bear Run Road Resurfacing: The last few hundred feet of Bear Run Road to Rt. 19 was resurfaced on September 8, 2009. The Township performed extensive repair work on Bear Run this year to alleviate several drainage issues and improve safety. The Township also recently performed base repair and patching operations on Bear Run Road, then applied a new surface to seal the patches and prolong the life of the road.
Road Design: The project is entering the final design stage. This process will take up to six months to complete, and will include the roadway design; obtaining a Joint Permit from the Department of Environmental Protection; and a Highway Occupancy Permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Cottingham Circle Mound Removal: This mound will be removed when the Northwest Connector project begins. This large quantity of dirt will require several weeks of hauling. Cottingham Circle and part of Heights Drive will be damaged by the excessive hauling. The roads are not designed or constructed to handle this type of repeated stress. All areas damaged will be repaired.
Traffic Calming Project: This will be completed prior to opening the Northwest Connector.
Traffic Signal Study: A traffic signal at Route 19 is currently not warranted with this project.
Project Timeline:
• Design in 2009-2010
• Construction in 2010 – 2011: The project construction phase will include the mound removal and traffic Calming components of the Connector project.
• Opening: Spring 2011
Contractor Information:
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (design)
Project History:
Planning for the Northwest Connector started ten years ago when the Township determined that the parallel road system it had envisioned for moving local traffic as an alternative to either Rt. 19 or the Rt. 228/Freedom Road corridor would require what became known as a Northwest Connector. Initially, Bear Run Road was considered as a possible alignment for the connector. But property acquisition and utility relocation costs, as well as the road’s peculiar topography, prompted the Township to reconsider.
The Heights Drive Extension option emerged as the preferred alternative. Part of the reason was that the Cranberry Heights plan of homes was under construction at the time. As a result developers, rather than taxpayers, were tasked with financing and building major parts of the connector.
At the same time, to help manage the expected increase in traffic, a series of measures were jointly developed by affected residents and Township staff to slow the vehicles which would eventually use that connector. Those measures, which included traffic calming islands, four-way stops, and painted crosswalks, are expected to be in place before the Township-financed connector opens.
