08-05-2025
State College Connector leaving residents worried, PennDOT says it will benefit the future
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A major road project going through Centre County will create several changes for local residents as PennDOT looks to make the roadway safer.
The project is called the State College Area Connector, an 8-mile route that goes through Potter Mills and Boalsburg. Recently, PennDOT released the recommended preferred alternative route. The Central Alternative route was chosen out of three possibilities because it will have the least amount of impact on residents and the environment. But for those in its 8-mile path, it's still troubling.
'It's going to take our parking lot, our garage. It's not going to take our house as of now,' Cole Transportation Bus Contractor Patrick Cole said.
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Cole grew up in Potters Mills and has been bussing for 43 years. However, even though he will be losing his current location for his business, he's not opposed to the connector.
'I want to get it done, I've been hearing about this since I've been a little kid, get it started, get it done, and let's move on,' Cole said.
Cole is still deciding what to do next and is waiting for answers. When it comes to his business, he's a little upset that he needs to move, but he knows the connector will benefit the future.
You know, in a way, yeah, but you know, you can't stop progress, they say,' Cole said.
According to PennDOT, the connector route announcement comes after several years of hard work, and the goal is to improve roadway congestion and address safety issues.
'Safety, mobility, continuity, you know, things that that everybody keeps talking about. You meet with a property owner, and the first thing they want to do is take you down to the end of their driveway and say, look, there are times of the day I can't get out of here because there's just so much traffic. And then the next person will tell you there was another accident last week,' Assistant Executive for Design for PennDOT District 2 Eric Murnyack said.
Not only will Cole be impacted, but right down the road, Doug Rimmey and Rimmey's Tussey Ridge Farm will lose three to four acres of farmland near the edge of his field.
'It's going to hurt a little bit more every year. It hurts a little bit more just, knowing that you have to get bigger to make it. But, we'll do what we can to survive, that's what we've been doing to this point,' Rimmey said.
Rimmey's family has owned the farm since 1957. In 1996, Rimmey purchased the farm from his parents. During that time, there were rumblings about a highway being built. He says this could've been avoided several years ago with a different route, but now.
'What am I going to do to stop them at this point? We fought them as civilly as possible to keep it from going here this way, but they have all the rules and we don't have them,' Rimmey said.
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Although he is losing some land, he says with previous plans and alternate routes he's seen, losing three to four acres is sort of a relief, knowing it could be a lot worse.
Several homeowners along the connector route will be displaced, but PennDOT says it will be a benefit for the future.
'I mean, there's no good way to tell somebody that they're going to be displaced. But in the long term, the purpose, the safety side of this and keeping all the heavy traffic up off of the existing 322 and putting it on an interstate now, it'll make it a lot better to drive through that area,' Murnyack said.
PennDOT says they are still in the early phases of the project, and projections show construction not starting until at least 2030. A public meeting is set for Thursday, May 8, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Wyndham Garden State College, 310 Elks Club Road, Boalsburg, PA 16827.
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