A major reconstruction of southern Butler County's busiest east-west byway could be off the drawing board.

Top transportation officials told the county Thursday that the redesign of Route 228 between Route 19 and Route 8 is one of about two dozen big-ticket projects being re-evaluated with an eye toward either reducing the scope of the project or eliminating it.The re-evaluation is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's biennial review of its program.

The two-page list of projects "to be stopped or re-evaluated," as PennDOT put it, notes that the reassessment will balance funding availability against the importance of the project as well as the status of the project in terms of planning and construction. The Route 228 project is the only PennDOT effort in Butler County or the northern suburbs that is being reconsidered.

Secretary of Transportation Allan Biehler discussed the reassessments at a meeting with transportation officials as well as transportation district engineers and planners.

Dave Johnston, Butler County planning director, said Biehler told him he has no idea how long the reassessment will take.

But Johnston said Biehler told him that, at first glance, he thinks some version of the Route 228 project will go forward but it may not be the full plan. Current cost estimates for the full project range from $120 million to $150 million.

"He said he doesn't see that the scope could change much on the Cranberry-Seven Fields end, but maybe there could be some alterations on the Route 8 end,'' Johnston said.

He and other municipal officials said they're taking a wait-and-see approach to what PennDOT decides.

"We'll see what happens,'' said Cranberry Assistant Manager Dan Santoro. "Clearly, it's a matter of finances."

Aimed at adding capacity and improving flow from Route 19 to Route 8, the project concept involves construction of service roads that would run parallel to Route 228 on both the north and south sides of the road. The idea is to take local traffic off Route 228 so through-traffic can move smoothly.

Beyond Cranberry, Route 228 would be widened and "jug handles" would be constructed at each intersection so that traffic exiting the highway wouldn't have to stop at traffic signals to turn. The road would be widened to four lanes all the way to Route 8.

Also part of the project is a rehabilitation of Route 19 at and near the intersection with Route 228. The idea is to split northbound traffic off the highway and place it onto what is now Dutilh Road. The split would occur north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and extend to the end of Dutilh near Home Depot.

First Published: March 31, 2004, 5:00 a.m.