SEDA-COG MPO Long Range Transportation Plan, 2016-2040 REGIONAL CONTEXT This section provides perspectives on the backdrop for transportation in the SEDA-COG MPO region as it currently exists. The information is intended as a baseline for understanding the transportation network, its components, and the dynamics affecting its use and upkeep. A. Transportation History The history of transportation and the development of infrastructure in Central Pennsylvania have been closely tied to the area’s topography and waterways. A majority of the SEDA-COG MPO region falls within the Ridge and Valley Geologic Province, with parts of Clinton County in the Appalachian Plateaus Province. According to the Pennsylvania Geological Survey5, the topography of this region formed when pressure from the southwest compressed the region to the northwest, buckling the rock into long valleys running roughly in the same direction. Soft shales and siltstones eroded to form the valleys, while the sandstones eroded at a slower rate, leaving ridges. The differences between the ridges and valleys are more dramatic in the western and northern parts of the region, with elevation changes of up to a thousand feet. The differences become more subdued in the easternmost MPO counties. The physiography and topography are typified by the succession of numerous ridges and valleys with a southwest-northeast orientation. The largest portion of the SEDA-COG MPO region is drained by the Susquehanna River, with its West Branch flowing through or bordering Clinton, Northumberland, and Union Counties. The North Branch flows through or borders Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland Counties. The main stem of the Susquehanna borders Northumberland, Snyder, and the eastern tip of Juniata County. The Juniata River flows through Mifflin and Juniata Counties, joining up with the Susquehanna River further south. A host of smaller streams and creeks feed these major watercourses. Infrastructure development followed the watercourses, valleys, and ridge gaps. The Pennsylvania Canal followed the Juniata, North Branch, West Branch and Susquehanna Rivers. The confluence of the North and West Branch in the Sunbury and Northumberland areas, and other points along the rivers, became major trade centers in the 19th Century and remain population centers today. The canals were quickly eclipsed by railroads built along many of the same riverbed alignments. Highways were then built paralleling many of the rail lines, or feeding traffic to them, following the valley floors or winding along the gaps between adjacent ridges. Much of the current network orients around these features and follows paths that have been in use for more than a century. The notable variation to this pattern is Interstate 80, which cuts across the ridge and valley topography but frequently follows the established paths of state routes, particularly in the western part of the region. http://www.gis.dcnr.state.pa.us/geology/index.html 5 Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey, http://www.gis.dcnr.state.pa.us/geology/index.html, PaGEODE Web-Mapping Application for Pennsylvania Geologic Data Exploration. Adopted July 2016 Regional Context ● P a g e | 10 SEDA-COG MPO Long Range Transportation Plan, 2016-2040 B. Transportation System 1. Transportation Agencies The following agencies are principally responsible for the highway and street infrastructure in the eight- county SEDA-COG MPO region: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), under the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Counties Cities and Municipalities (boroughs, towns, and townships) 2. Highway System The highway system in the SEDA-COG MPO region includes the physical infrastructure that conveys vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and supports the movement of people and goods. Highways and streets are the most recognizable primary conduits of travel. Bridges and tunnels conduct certain roadways or traverse other roadways and environmental features. The junctions of the transportation system include intersections and interchanges. The major highway corridors in the SEDA-COG MPO region (see Figure 2) are indicated not only by high volumes, but also by their role in the transportation of goods as part of interstate or international commerce, transportation of people for commercial, tourism or personal purposes, the movement of agricultural products to major market or processing centers, and other factors. Table 2 presents an overview of key characteristics for each of these major highway corridors. Several of these major highway corridors are seeing significant new development and modification. We note the following major highway construction projects are currently under construction: Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation (CSVT) Project – The project will complete 13 miles of new, 4-lane, limited-access highway through Snyder, Northumberland, and Union Counties as a bypass of the US 11 and 15 corridors, which traverse Hummel’s Wharf, Shamokin Dam, Northumberland, and Lewisburg, among other smaller communities. The roadway will complete a long-planned connection between US 11/15 south of Selinsgrove and I-80. Completion of the roadway is planned for 2024. As a primary strategic planning element for SEDA-COG MPO, a broader discussion of the CSVT project and its implications for the region is found in the “Issues and Implications” chapter, Section A. Potter’s Mills Gap Project (PMG) – The project will create about 3 miles of 4-lane, limited-access highway from the Mifflin/Centre County line to Potters Mills in Centre County, including new grade-separated interchanges at Sand Mountain Road and PA 144. The project addresses safety, mobility, and congestion concerns. Construction is expected to begin in 2017. Although the project is not located within the SEDA-COG MPO region, it is expected to provide mobility and economic benefits for Juniata and Mifflin Counties. In the Mifflin County Comprehensive Plan, PMG and the ongoing development of a limited-access connection to I-80 are referenced as the county’s highest highway improvement priority.6 6 Visions for the 21st Century, The Mifflin County Comprehensive Plan, 2014, page 16-6. Adopted July 2016 Regional Context ● P a g e | 11 POTTER COUNTY Figure 2 144! SULLIVAN Scranton CAMERON COUNTY COUNTY LYCOMING ¤£220 COUNTY ¤£15 120! LUZERNE Williamsport COUNTY ¨¦§180 Wilkes-Barre 144! Montoursville CLINTON ¨¦§81 476 Lock Haven ¨¦§ 44 220 ! ¤£ !54 ¤£15 !44 COLUMBIA ¨¦§180 Berwick ¤£11 ¨¦§80 CENTRE ¨¦§80 MONTOUR COUNTY 147! ¨¦§80 Milton 80 CLEARFIELD COUNTY UNION ¨¦§ Bloomsburg Lewisburg Danville Hazleton Mifflinburg £11 Bellefonte ¤ !45 Sunbury !54 144! ¨¦§99 322 ¤£ !61 147! Middleburg !54 Selinsgrove State College Shamokin SCHUYLKILL £522 ¤ NORTHUMBERLAND !61 MIFFLIN COUNTY SNYDER ¨¦§81 !45 322 ¤£15 ¤£ Pottsville HUNTINGDON ¤£11 COUNTY . Lewistown Major Highway Corridors I-80 Corridor US-11 Corridor Mifflintown ¤£22 I-180/US-220 Corridor PA-45 Corridor ¤£22 ¤£322 ¤£209 Long Range Transportation Plan US-15 Corridor PA-54 Corridor US-322 Corridor PA-61 Corridor Huntingdon JUNIATA ¤£22 US-522 Corridor PA-144 Corridor 522 ADHS Corridor ADHS ¤£ 147! New Bloomfield DAUPHIN ° COUNTY Miles SEDA-COG MPO ¨¦§80 Interstate Hwy PERRY 0 5 10 Major Place ¤£11 US Hwy COUNTY 1 inch = 8.12 miles Major River !61 Major PA Rt 1:514,711 CSVT Other PA Routes September, 2015 ¤£522 Harrisburg Highway Data: PennDOT September 2015, PA State Plane North, NAD83 feet SEDA-COG MPO Long Range Transportation Plan, 2016-2040 Table 2: Major Highway Corridors SEDA-COG MPO ADHS Route 2014 ADT1 Truck %2 Notes Counties Corridor3 Clinton, Union, 60% to 70% west of I-180; I-80 Northumberland, 22,000 - 40,000 25% to 40% east of I-180 Montour, & Columbia Connects I-80 to Williamsport, PA I-180 Northumberland 19,000 29% Corridor P (connects to ADHS Corridor U) Only non-interstate in Pennsylvania 16,000 south of I-80 to US 15 Snyder & Union 7% to 10% designated as part of the Department of 47,000 at Shamokin Dam Defense's Strategic Highway Network Co-designated with US 22 south of US 322 Juniata & Mifflin 15,000 to 25,000 15% to 20% Corridor M Lewistown Mifflin & Snyder 3,400 to 10,000 7% to 11% (east of Lewistown) US 522 Mifflin 9,100 to 9,300 6% to 9% Corridor M Co-designated with US 22 (west of Lewistown) 7% to 10% (section Snyder, Northumberland, Connects the Bloomsburg-Berwick US 11 11,000 to 17,000 connecting PA 147 and US Montour & Columbia Urbanized Area with I-80 15 - 20%) 1,600 (western Union Union, Northumberland, 20% (western Union County Connects Danville / Lewisburg with State PA 45 County line) to 12,000 & Montour line) to 6% (Lewisburg) College, PA (Lewisburg) Northumberland & 2,000 to 9,500 (17,000 PA 54 5% to 10% Connects US 15 to I-81 Montour near Danville) 1,800 (southern Northumberland & Columbia County) to PA 61 8% Links US 15 to I-81 Columbia 21,000 at Sunbury / Shamokin Dam Snyder, Union, & Under construction CSVT NA NA Corridor P-1 Northumberland Completion planned for 2024 Source: 1 Average Daily Traffic, PennDOT, Pennsylvania Traffic Volume Map, 2014 (published January 2016); http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/BPR_PDF_FILES/MAPS/Traffic/Traffic_Volume/Statewide/Statewide_2014_tv.pdf. 2 Truck %, PennDOT, PennDOT Internet Traffic Management System (iTMS), http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/itms/main.htm. 3 Appalachian Regional Commission, Status of the Appalachian Development Highway System, 9/30/2015, http://www.arc.gov/images/programs/transp/ADHSFY2015StatusReport.pdf, p. 44. Adopted July 2016 Regional Context ● P a g e | 13 SEDA-COG MPO Long Range Transportation Plan, 2016-2040 Including the major highway corridors, the SEDA-COG MPO region is home to nearly 1,500 miles of roadway included in the Federal Aid Highway System, including almost 86 miles of Interstate highways. The Federal Aid Highway System includes those roads on the National Highway System or functionally classified as Urban Collector / Rural Major Collector, or higher. It should be noted that the total roadway network of Federal-Aid and Non-Federal Aid highways includes over 6,700 miles.