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Designing Roadway Alignments in Somerset County

It has been three years since the US 219 Project Team began studying alternatives for the proposed improvements to US 219from Meyersdale to Somerset. Many of you have played a very active role in determining where the final alignment should be located by providing vital information at Public Meetings and our booths at the Maple Festival and the Somerset County Fair. We are nearing the completion of the environmental studies portion of the project. Based on the analysis of alternatives and the strong favorable public response regarding Alignment C-1, it appears that we have a very good alignment that will have the least impact to the environment and will do the most to enhance transportation within the southern Somerset County region.

Determining where the alignments should be located was not an easy task considering the number of engineering and environmental constraints that exist within the study area. We hope that this article will provide the public with a better understanding of why the alignments are located where they are and why certain alignment shifts were made. Outlined below are some of the more notable engineering and environmental constraints that were considered during the design process.

Connecting to the Existing Four-lane US 219 Sections

Approximately 1/3 of the total 10 mile length of the proposed new roadway is the same for all alignments, primarily due to the location of the existing northern and southern four-lane sections of US 219.

Southern end: The need for an interchange and the location of the existing bridges at the north end of the Meyersdale Bypass dictated the direction of all alignments to the north. All of the proposed alignments follow the same general path to the north for approximately 1½ miles before they split apart.

Northern end: The location of the Somerset State Correctional Institution, so close to the end of the existing four-lane highway, resulted in the only viable alignment being due south on the west side of the prison. Again, all of the alignments follow the same path for approximately 2 miles before they split apart.

Buffalo Creek Valley

In order to connect the two existing sections of four-lane US219, it is necessary to cross Buffalo Creek, but there are only a few areas where this is feasible. Engineering constraints included
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Project Summary and EIS Process

In 2001, PENNDOT, FHWA, and their design team began the US 219 Improvements Project, Meyersdale to Somerset. The first step of the study was to develop Phase I Preliminary Alternatives. Five 1,000-foot corridors, Transportation System Management (TSM), and Upgrade of Existing US 219 alternatives were evaluated, and they were presented to the public and resource agencies in late 2001. Four of these alternatives were approved and carried forward to the Phase II Detailed Alternatives Analysis, which began in 2002. In Phase II, the 1,000-foot corridors were refined into Alignments B, C, C-1, and D. During this process, the design team considered engineering and environmental features, and made several shifts before arriving at the final alignments.

The results of the Phase II analysis will be presented in a Draft EIS. The Draft EIS document will be distributed to consulting agencies and made available to the public for review and comment. The comment period will begin October 15, 2004 and will end November 30th, 2004. Within the comment period, after the initial 30 days, a Plans Display and Public Hearing will beheld. The Public Hearing, which will be held on November 15, 2004, will allow for formal written and oral testimony from consulting agencies and the public. All comments will become part of the official project record. All comments will be analyzed, and responses will be written. Substantive comments and responses will be addressed in the Final EIS.

In the spring of 2005, after review of all project data and the results of the comment/response period, PENNDOT and FHWA will confirm the Selected Alternative. The Final EIS, which will identify the Selected Alternative based on the results of the public and agency input, will be prepared and distributed to consulting agencies and the public for review. The Final EIS will generally follow the same approval process as the Draft EIS; although there will be no public hearing, and the comment period will be 30 days.

When the Final EIS is approved and measures to minimize or avoid impacts have been assured, FHWA will give a Record of Decision (ROD). Upon receipt of the ROD, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process will be complete and the project will have environmental clearance. Environmental clearance will allow the project to proceed into final design phases.