🤔 Pennsylvania wants to relocate a highway

[GOYABEAN]

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BERLIN ― Community group Citizens to Save the Allegheny Mountain wants to have as many people as possible attend a meeting hosted by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) next week to fight its Allegheny Mountain Realignment plan.

At a media event held Monday on the Mountain Field and Stream Club property along the Allegheny Mountain ridge, members of the group presented their case for pushing back against the plan.

PTC's public meeting on the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel realignment project is from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 26, at the Somerset Church of the Brethren, 606 Berlin Plank Road, Somerset.

How the Pennsylvania Turnpike wants to reshape the highway

The PTC plans to construct a new stretch of mainline roadway to reduce congestion and increase access and mobility through Allegheny and Stonycreek townships to the south of the Allegheny Tunnel, according to the PTC website.

“The Allegheny Mountain Realignment project will add a new stretch of mainline roadway to increase safety, regional access and mobility, while reducing congestion. While we work through preliminary engineering and final design, every effort will be made to minimize environmental impacts in coordination with state and federal environmental agencies,” said Marissa Orbanek, PTC press secretary, in an email.

The selected alignment was chosen to reduce the frequency and severity of accidents in the vicinity of the tunnel, eliminate rerouting of vehicles carrying hazardous materials, accommodate existing and future traffic volumes and minimize environmental impacts, the website says. An alternatives analysis phase of the project was completed and the preferred alternative was selected.

Opponents say plan will drastically harm wildlife

The citizens group says carving a massive trench through the mountain, about 250 feet deep, 1,000 feet wide, and nearly 4 miles long, would destroy 6,117 feet of streams, relocate 1,564 feet, and culvert another 802 feet, impacting a total of 8,483 feet of stream channels, according to an Environmental Assessment. It shows that the project would also wipe out 211.81 acres of forested habitat and encroach on critical wetlands, as well as impact public and private water supplies on all sides of the mountain.

The group says the proposed "Gray Cut" would destroy critical wildlife habitats, disrupt migration patterns and endanger species that rely on the unspoiled wilderness of the Allegheny Mountain. The natural springs and deep wells providing clean water to nearby communities are at risk of being polluted or permanently altered by the construction, according to the group.

Neighboring watersheds in addition to the Stonycreek River, include the Raystown branch of the Juniata River and the Indian Lake watersheds. They say alternatives such as rehabilitating the existing tunnels or creating additional tunnel tubes have been proposed but not fully explored.

The purpose of this briefing is to provide an update to the community on the status of the project and explain what is anticipated for the next four years of preliminary engineering, as field studies progress on the selected alignment, according to the PTC website.

The public will be limited to 2 minutes per person to speak. The website schedule includes: 6–6:15 p.m. registration with plans display; 6:15–6:45 p.m. project update presentation; 6:45–8 p.m. question and answer session. A recording of the briefing and the comment form will be posted to the project website following the meeting.

"We are just kicking off the preliminary design and there will be additional opportunities for public comment," Orbanek said. "For example, we will share information with public at the end of preliminary design as we do for all of our construction projects. During this time, we provide an opportunity for the public to ask questions and provide feedback. Preliminary design lasts approximately four years; final design will begin after that and is an additional four years. We will continue accepting feedback throughout the duration of the project.

Who is leading this effort against moving the highway?

Speaking at Monday's media event were Randy Musser, Citizens to Save the Allegheny Mountain; Tom Shuster representing the Sierra Club; Irv Kimmel, Somerset County Board of Commissioners; state Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar, Stacey Magda, Mountain Watershed Association; Tim Resh representing the Mountain Field and Stream Club, and Traci Horning representing Berlin Borough's Municipal Authority. Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes introduced each speaker after presenting the commissioners' opinion of the plan.

Tokar-Ickes said six boards of commissioners have opposed this project over the years. Together with Irv Kimmel, they said the commissioners will continue to oppose this cut.

Tom Shuster said the proposed project will potentially shave 20 seconds of the motorists' trip. "The rationale isn't good enough," he said. "When you go under a mountain everything above it goes on."

Tim Resh said the water from springs will disappear.

Horning, executive secretary of the Berlin Borough Municipal Authority, said so many businesses in town as well as borough residents rely on the water coming from the mountain.

"If they take this water from us, we have no other water source," she said. "I'd like to hear they'd do a study to see if there's any other option. Is there another way to get water? People support us because we can't lose our water. A road is not worth a means of water supply."

State rep. calls for 'less intrusive' solutions

Metzgar, state representative of the 69th District, said this cut through the mountain is a nonstarter.

"It's not necessary. There have to be better solutions – much less intrusive. We're going to fight this thing," he said. "We want to work with the Turnpike Commission. The turnpike is a financial bonus, but to say that we're going to cut an enormous gash through the mountain rather than a tunnel? Why would we allow this to happen? There's no reason why the turnpike can't go with an extra tube for the lane."

Ed Will from the audience said he is the secretary of the New Baltimore Sportsmen's Club. He said the town has water buffaloes to supply clean water because every time it rains, New Baltimore's water turns brown from turnpike runoff.

A letter from Somerset County Conservancy written by Jeff Payne, president, was distributed to the audience. In the letter, Payne said the conservancy is "perplexed and dismayed" that after they have commented on the proposal several times over the years, the PTC nor the agencies responsible for environmental protection have requested a third, new tunnel option to be studied. They request the option of building one new eastbound gray tunnel while maintaining the existing tunnels for westbound travel be given a full, unbiased review.

The PTC website says the the Bowman Consulting Group Team was selected in 2023 and the preliminary design phase began in March 2024. It is expected to take four years to complete the preliminary design.

According to the website, the preliminary design phase will conclude with a public meeting where the community can review the proposed design for the new alignment and the required right-of-way impacts. At this meeting, the public will have the opportunity to provide comments. All feedback will be recorded and considered during the final design phase of the project. This public meeting is anticipated for 2028.

"The turnpike commission already decided it was going to put a gray cut through the mountain to get rid of the tunnels," Musser said. "It would be a disaster. The fight has just begun. The turnpike commission is in its design phase. They need permits. The public can influence the permits. If they go through with the permits, we can appeal them. We need the public to show up."

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/...n/75263520007/

[Emptymag]

Look at the mountain ridges. Do you think anyone gives two shits about destroying habitats and harming wildlife?

That only matters if there's a rare cricket in danger of having to find a new log to hide under.

[GOYABEAN]

Look at the mountain ridges. Do you think anyone gives two shits about destroying habitats and harming wildlife?

That only matters if there's a rare cricket in danger of having to find a new log to hide under.

Those wind turbines powering a trailcam?

[streaker69]

Look at the mountain ridges. Do you think anyone gives two shits about destroying habitats and harming wildlife?

That only matters if there's a rare cricket in danger of having to find a new log to hide under.

...and like every time I go out that way, those turbines aren't turning.

[Emptymag]

This will be different.
Cars will be driving through the destroyed habitat every day.


See how I tried to "steer" this back into the proper lane?