The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

May 16, 2008

Added funds go to bikeway project in valley but may not be enough

Action effectively kills Sandy Lake-Stoneboro trail

By Joe Pinchot

SHENANGO VALLEY — Metropolitan Planning Organization has given five Shenango Valley communities more money to create a bikeway to Buhl Farm park in Hermitage, but the money might not be enough to complete the project.

MPO, a body of mostly elected officials from throughout Mercer County that works with PennDOT on transportation issues, pulled money from Sandy Creek Conservancy trail project, which Daniel Gracenin, executive director of Mercer County Regional Planning Commission, said is likely to prompt some feedback from the conservancy.

The Shenango Valley Bikeway project has been in the works for about seven years, with $283,000 in federal money set aside. Hermitage, Sharon, Sharpsville, Farrell and Wheatland each paid for the engineering that was needed to be done within their boundaries, jointly hiring Winslow Engineering, Hermitage.

About 70 percent of the construction cost comes from work that will be done in Hermitage — to build a sidewalk east of North Buhl Farm Drive to Richmond Drive, tying into an existing sidewalk, and curbing from Lyle Drive to Buhl Farm Drive.

The project also includes erecting signs, painting lines and replacing storm sewer grates with bicycle-friendly ones.

To try to keep the cost down, Hermitage did part of the project on its own, installing drainage pipe on the south side of Highland last summer, a project worth $105,000.

However, PennDOT has estimated the remaining work will cost $505,000, not counting an estimated $75,000 for inspections. With the project almost ready to go to bid, officials are faced with coming up with the remaining money quickly, or killing the project.

The estimated cost has jumped $150,000 since last summer.

MPO had two options to funnel more money into the project — redesignate $230,000 set aside years ago for the Sandy Creek Conservancy to build a trail between Sandy Lake and Stoneboro, and/or pull money from a PennDOT discretionary account that requires a 20-percent local match.

Gracenin said the Sandy Lake-Stoneboro project is not ready to go to bid, although right-of-way problems apparently have been resolved, and the project is moving again after having been dormant for some time. Grant money was initially awarded in the early ’90s.

Gracenin said he met Tuesday with the Sandy Creek Conservancy’s Lee McCoy to get an update on the project.

Contact information for McCoy was not readily available.

Although the MPO’s action Thursday effectively killed the Sandy Lake-Stoneboro project, at least as far as the MPO is concerned, there is nothing preventing the Sandy Creek Conservancy from reapplying when more money becomes available, Gracenin said.

The extra $230,000 does not give the bikeway project enough money to cover the estimated cost, but it does give it enough for PennDOT for advertise for bids, PennDOT officials said.

Bids could come in lower than anticipated or, if the bids are on target, municipal officials could go back to their elected officials and see if they are willing to put in more money to meet the local match required to access the MPO discretionary fund.

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