Ceremony to celebrate improvement
Today’s opening of two ramps that will complete the Walnut Hill Road-Route 119 interchange will make that part of South Union Township even more appealing for development, a township supervisor said. The state Department of Transportation will conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony at one of the new ramps, the northbound Route 119 off ramp, at 1 p.m. to mark the opening.
“It’s certainly going to act like a magnet for future development,” said Robert Schiffbauer, chairman of the board of supervisors. “I can’t tell you how much it will enhance that area for economic development.”
Construction of the off ramp from Route 119 north/Route 40 west to Walnut Hill Road and the on ramp from Walnut Hill Road to Route 119 south/Route 40 east started in August 2005.
The $6.7 million project includes a ramp connecting Walnut Hill Road and southbound Route 43 (Mon/Fayette Expressway).
Work also included new traffic lights, structural repairs, extending a box culvert, drainage and new overhead signs.
Schiffbauer said the ramps will improve the traffic flow to and from Walnut Hill Plaza, which opened last year, and draw developers to a privately owned 130 acres of land along the Route 119 south/Route 40 east (Uniontown bypass) and possibly to some property in the Continental 2 area.
Utility services are available in the interchange area, Schiffbauer said.
Developers sometimes have to pay for off-site improvements such as ramps and traffic lights when they build, but that won’t be the case in the Walnut Hill Road interchange area, he said.
“They’re not going to have to deal with considerable off-site expenditures for improvements,” Schiffbauer said.
However, the ramps will have a not-so-good side effect, he said.
Schiffbauer said he expects a significant increase in traffic on Dixon Boulevard and Wiggins Lane as motorists use those roads as a shortcut from Route 21 to the bypass.
“We’re going to have to find a mechanism that works well to calm traffic in that area,” Schiffbauer said.
He said the supervisors will talk to state police about the shortcuts and might consider placing stop signs at key intersections to slow traffic.