Bypass preferred for controversial Eisenhower Drive Extension project, public hearing set
Officials recommend a bypass for the controversial Eisenhower Drive Extension project, and the public will be able to weigh in on it during a hearing in the Hanover area next month, according to the state Department of Transportation.
The public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Southeastern Adams Volunteer Emergency Services (SAVES), 5865 Hanover Road in Conewago Township, Adams County. The doors will open at 5 p.m.
The project has been in the works for years and would help alleviate traffic congestion in southwestern York County and southeastern Adams County.
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PennDOT had been considering three options:
An extension of busy Eisenhower Drive from High Street to Route 116. It would create a bypass around Hanover and McSherrystown, traveling through farmland in Adams County.
The Transportation System Management plan — also called the TSM — which would involve making improvements to the existing network. That option would require taking about 53 homes and businesses in the Hanover area.
No project at all.
PennDOT has identified the bypass as the preferred option, saying it "best meets the needs and purpose for the project by providing transportation improvements that will address operational and safety concerns," according to its website.
The plans propose building bridges over railroad tracks to avoid at-grade crossings and installing roundabouts at major intersections, including Oxford Avenue and Centennial Road, said Ben Singer, project manager with PennDOT.
Construction could begin in the fall of 2024, the website says.
A 382-page draft report on the project is available at www.eisenhowerdriveextension.com or at various municipal and county offices in Adams and York counties. It also can be found at Guthrie Memorial Library in Hanover.
Singer said he recommends that people visit the project website to learn more about the plans and to comment on them. PennDOT already has received some remarks.
"This is a very important project to people down there," he said.
Some have objected to the bypass, wanting to keep the farmland.
Support exists for both the no-build and the bypass options, Singer said.
And it's not a done deal, he said. A possibility remains that the project might not move forward if funding falls through or something unforeseen happens.
The public will be able to present testimony on the project in three ways:
Speaking during the hearing: Participants will have five minutes to deliver their remarks. It will be before an audience and a stenographer will record the testimony. Participants should register ahead of time at www.eisenhowerdriveextension.com or call Rose Riese with Johnson, Mirmiran, & Thompson, Inc., at (717) 741-6262. Participants will be called upon in the order that they registered.
Giving private testimony: Participants will have five minutes to speak in a separate hearing room with a stenographer between 6 and 8 p.m. without prior registration.
Offering written testimony: It can be placed in a comment box at the hearing, submitted through the project website, or mailed to Johnson, Mirmiran, & Thompson, Inc., 220 St. Charles Way, Suite 200, York, PA 17402, Attn: Neil Beach.
The hearing is being held in collaboration with Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the website.
A 45-day public comment period on the project started Monday, and the public will have until 5 p.m. March 10 to offer remarks.
All of the comments — oral and written — will become part of the record on the project, PennDOT says.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Eisenhower Drive Project: Bypass recommended, hearing set in Hanover
