The Harrisburg area has waited 12 years for the
Interstate 83 Capital Beltway master plan to take shape.
Thanks to a state transportation funding bill
passed in 2013 — arguably the biggest piece of legislation to get
done under the Corbett administration — the waiting game will finally come to
an end next year. A decade of I-83 investment is about to begin - and,
according to local officials, it should help the region continue to attract
development.
“It's one of the best demonstrations of a government that
works,” David Black, president and CEO of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber &
Capital Region Economic Development Corp., said. “Put that in the
context of what's happening now. (And) it's an investment of tax dollars that
is tangible to people.”
The transportation bill gave the commonwealth billions to
invest on infrastructure projects in the coming years through a restructuring
of the gasoline tax and various fee enhancements, including increased vehicle-registration
costs.
The I-83 master plan covers an
11-mile stretch that starts at the northern end of I-83 in Lower Paxton
Township, where it intersects with Interstate 81, and runs over to the West
Shore at the New Cumberland exit.
The West Shore piece, where I-83 and Route 581 meet — aka
the York split — was recently completed as part of an early-action project at
PennDOT.
East Shore Section 1: Starts where I-81 and I-83
meet, includes Colonial Park and Union Deposit interchanges, and runs down to
Eisenhower Interchange. Construction is expected to start in 2016 and wrap by
2021.
East Shore Section 2: Starts at the Eisenhower
Interchange and runs to 29th Street. Construction could begin in 2022 and wrap
by 2026.
East Shore Section 3: This section includes the
19th, 17th, 13th and 2nd Street interchanges and extends across John Harris
Bridge to Cumberland County line. Construction could begin in 2025 and wrap by
2028.
Hundreds of millions of additional dollars will be poured
into I-83, including more lanes and interchange improvements, to try to ease
traffic congestion and improve overall flow.
“If it were not for the additional revenue generated by
Act 89, we very likely would not be doing this work,” said Greg Penny, a
spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. “Act 89 has made it
possible to move ahead with these projects.”
Timeline
The first East Shore section, which includes the
Colonial Park and Union Deposit interchanges, will be bid in April, with
construction slated to begin next year. The widening of I-83 to six lanes
between the junction with I-81 and Derry Street, just to the north of the
Eisenhower Interchange, will be bid in 2018 and should wrap up by 2021.
Construction of the first phase is projected to cost more
than $143 million, according to PennDOT.
“There's also another project scheduled next year in
Lower Paxton Township — to widen I-81 in order to provide ramp extensions
between I-83 and Exit 72 (Mountain Road),” Penny said.
Work on the second phase, which covers the Eisenhower
Interchange and extends westward to 29th Street, would likely get underway in
2022 and finish by 2026 at a cost of $245 million.
The third East Shore section would extend over the
John Harris Bridge to the Cumberland County line. Construction is slated to
start in 2025 and be done by 2028 at a cost of $400 million.
The estimates do not include preliminary engineering,
final design, right-of-way acquisitions and utility relocation costs.
The all-in investment is nearly $1 billion, according to
PennDOT estimates. And short-term disruptions are likely as projects get
rolling.
“Nobody likes to sit in traffic, but the alternative is
not a good one,” Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania
Chamber of Business and Industry.
Yes, Central Pennsylvania's highway network is what makes
the region attractive to new business, including industrial developers who are
building distribution centers up and down the interstates, business leaders
said.
But failure to address congestion in an aging system
threatens to neutralize the region's competitive advantage, said John Lloyd,
president and CEO of York-based Mantec Inc., the
manufacturing resource center for Central Pennsylvania.
“It is a case of 'better late than never,'” he said.
“There will be some major inconveniences while projects are under construction,
but those inconveniences cannot be a reason to not tackle these major projects.
Transportation infrastructure is critical to our economy, our quality of life
and our public safety. We cannot kick this can down the road any further.”
Context
The I-83 widening is a big piece of the broader
investments being made in regional infrastructure, said Jonathan Bowser, CEO of
the Cumberland Area Economic Development
Corp.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is being widened through
Carlisle and Cumberland County, he noted. And PennDOT has a major Route 283
reconstruction project between the Eisenhower Boulevard and Route 341 slated
for 2017.
“It's somewhat of an inconvenience now, but as the
population and communities here continue to grow, these are minor setbacks,”
Bowser said.
More importantly, having a plan and seeing the public
sector making investments is positive for business retention, he said. “And
it's great for attraction.”
Bowser is hoping these projects will open the door to
greater federal highway spending and additional investments along I-81 through
Cumberland County.
Act 89 helped pay for several multimodal projects
in the county, including $1.1 million for roadway, pedestrian, streetscape and
traffic-signal improvements to support a mixed-use development in East
Pennsboro Township, and $1.2 million to construct a connector road between
Trindle Road and York Road to improve traffic flow at the I-81 interchange at
exits 48 and 49 in South Middleton Township.
The key word to remember is “patience,” Black added.
Another is “opportunity” as more jobs arise from development along the
interstates, which attracts people from outlying areas.
“That's not necessarily state growth, but it is regional
growth,” Black said.
Source: Central
Penn Business Journal
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