Cranberry makes plans for Route 228 sans Simon development
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Cranberry officials last night confirmed that stakeholders in the proposed Route 228 improvement project met earlier in the day to discuss what should happen to the road in light of the decision by a retail developer to withdraw its plans for a major commercial development along the corridor.
Cranberry Strategic Planner John Trant Jr. said all parties agreed to reserve comment on the meeting until the state Department of Transportation makes an official announcement about what will happen with the road project. Township Manager Jerry Andree said Cranberry will honor that request from state Sen. Jane Orie and state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, who jointly hosted the meeting "out of a spirit of cooperation."
After more than seven years of planning, Simon Property Group of Indianapolis notified local, county and state officials by letter on Jan. 21 and 22 that the firm decided to "withdraw from development activity" and spend no more money on the project. The development, a mix of retail, office and residential development, was planned for an 80-acre tract at the intersection of Route 228 and Interstate 79.
The hangup, according to Simon, dealt directly with the road improvements that were required by PennDOT. Because the project was to be built along a state highway and was expected to impact traffic congestion on the already busy road, PennDOT must concur with planned road improvements before construction of a project can begin.
In the Simon case, PennDOT wanted highway improvements that ranged from flyover ramps to new lanes in both directions of Route 228. Simon put together a $63 million package that mixed state, federal and local transportation dollars with state economic funding as well as $2 million of its own money for the off-site improvements.
The problem with the funding package was that it was short by more than $20 million. Facing the shortfall, Simon and Cranberry asked PennDOT for permission to proceed with a scaled-back version of the highway improvements that could have been funded by the money on hand. PennDOT refused, saying all the improvements needed to be completed.
Joseph Dubovi III, district executive for PennDOT's District 10, said Tuesday the agency had been expecting Simon to withdraw and had been working on a plan to spend about $20 million that had been allocated in its transportation improvement program, assuming that Simon would not be in the picture. Since Simon no longer wants to build its large-scale development, he said, PennDOT could move forward with "incremental improvements."
First Published January 30, 2009 5:59 am
