Franklin County planners want your ideas for improving Interstate 81
What improvements do you want to see made on Interstate 81?
The Franklin County Metropolitan Planning Organization will host a public meeting next week where residents and others affected by the highway can provide feedback on future priorities. The in-person meeting is set for 5-7 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Franklin County Administration Building, 272 N. Second St., Chambersburg.
During this public event, attendees will have an opportunity to share comments and review a draft of recommended I-81 priorities, content and sequencing of program activities. Members of the project team, the Franklin County MPO and the Franklin County Planning Department will be on hand to answer questions and gather feedback. A formal presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Residents can also share comments through Oct. 12 through an online survey, available at https://bit.ly/3Pu8Q9q.
Printed copies of the survey are available. To get one, contact the planning department via email at planning@franklincountypa.gov or phone at 717-261-3855.
MPO to create long-term strategy for interstate
The metropolitan planning organization will use the feedback to develop a blueprint for implementing a coordinated, long-term strategy for the interstate.
“Despite being only 24 linear miles in length, I-81 accommodates approximately 43% of all travel that takes place within Franklin County which underscores its importance as a vitally strategic roadway,” said Steve Thomas, director of the Franklin County Planning Department. “Public feedback on recommended priorities is a critical part of the process in planning for the interstate’s future.”
In determining program priorities, the Franklin County MPO reviewed previous I-81 studies to establish a more strategic position to pursue and obtain funding opportunities for future projects. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of November 2021 added $20 billion to PennDOT’s Twelve-Year Program, bolstering the program’s budget to a record-high $83.7 billion. Locally, that additional funding allowed the Franklin County MPO to add 15 new projects to its Transportation Improvement Program.
Impact of I-81: Pressure building as I-81 continues driving development in Franklin County
“There have been many studies completed in the last twenty years related to I-81. It is very important to identify our top priorities from these studies to position ourselves for funding as it becomes available,” said Sam Cressler, Franklin County MPO chairman. “We need to move these projects off paper and start seeing work to address the congestion and growing density of commercial trucks on the interstate.”
Mike Ross, the president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp., has talked many times over the years about how I-81 has driven economic development in the county.
There have been projects to improve infrastructure on local roads where logistics centers are filling up open fields — such as on Swamp Fox Road (Pa. 914) off Exit 10 and on Mason-Dixon Road (Pa. 163) off Exit 1 — but he has said any improvements to the interstate are years away. Funding would need to be lined up first, anyway.
Number of crashes on the rise, data show
There were seven deadly crashes on I-81 in Franklin County between 2018 and 2022, according to a data report from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
A report on all crashes on I-81 in the county in that same time period showed an average of 119 crashes each year in that five-year period. While 2020 had the fewest crashes — 107 — likely due to the pandemic, 2021 and 2022 had the most crashes, with 133 and 123, respectively.
2023 statistics are not yet available, but state police have reported at least three fatal crashes so far this year. That would be the most since 2018, which had four fatal crashes on I-81.
Most recently, five people were killed in Greene Township Aug. 21 when an RV and a tractor-trailer collided head-on. Four were from one Harrisburg-area family, and the truck driver was a man from Martinsburg, W. Va.
A 65-year-old Greencastle man was killed in May when he crashed a motorcycle just south of Exit 14 (Wayne Avenue) in Guilford Township.
Earlier that month, a Greencastle woman, 56, died in a one-vehicle crash just south of Exit 5 in Greencastle.
Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopiniononline.com.
This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Interstate 81 improvements focus of public meeting in Franklin County
