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LOCK HAVEN -- The Clinton County Board of Commissioners took another step in its efforts to improve pedestrian safety along state Route 150 where it crosses from Flemington Borough into Bald Eagle Township.
On Thursday, the board unanimously authorized the execution of an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for phase one of its safety improvement project.
According to Steve Gibson, county engineer/planner, the project has been in various stages of study and funding since 2021. At the time, he said the pedestrian corridor for High Street and Hogan Boulevard "was noted to be a significant safety hazard to non-motorized transportation" such as pedestrian, handicap and cyclists.
This phase, Gibson said, included the section of sidewalk along Huston Street to the green bridge at Bald Eagle Creek.
The potential phase to follow would entail adding sidewalks or pedestrian facilities from the bridge to Mill Hall Borough along Hogan Boulevard.
Phase 1 is expected to replace slate sidewalks between Huston and Canal streets.
"At Canal Street there is a set of stairs that will remain. To make the project ADA compliant, a sidewalk ramp will be constructed outletting onto Canal Street adjacent to these stairs," Gibson told The Express.
New sidewalks are planned for construction between Canal Street and the bridge, where Gibson said it was noted the roadway "bottlenecks." This portion would also include installing a stand-alone pedestrian bridge across the canal.
"The remainder of the sidewalk alignment between the Bald Eagle Canal and Bald Eagle Creek will consist of pedestrian safety improvements consisting of curbing and pavement markings to better delineate traffic into and out of the car wash with the large open access to route 150," Gibson said.
The goal of the project is to provide an ADA compliant sidewalk that is separate from the roadway.
"Considering this section of roadway is the only connection point between Hogan Boulevard and greater Lock Haven, it is essential that these architectural barriers are removed so non-motorized transportation can safely travel between these areas of the county," Gibson said.
The agreement approved on Thursday will allow the execution of funding from PennDOT and its Transportation Alternatives Set Aside (TASA) grant.
Gibson noted this grant is the same highly competitive funding pool that paid for Katie's Crossing and Phase 5 of the Bald Eagle Valley Trail.
Engineering for phase 1 of the project is scheduled for 2026 to 2027, with construction expected for last 2027 into early 2028.