CENTRE COUNTY - More attention is always paid to driving safety during the holiday season. Now that the holiday season is over, one politician in Centre County is pushing for transportation to be a focal point for funding this year.
State Senator Jake Corman(R-34th District) sees a major transportation problem every day in his county.
"The South-Central Highway between Potters Mill and State College is still 2-lane, and we've had more than our share of fatal accidents on the Waddle Road interchange here in Centre County which backs up onto Rt. 322 during rush hour..."
Brenda Homan owns Homan's General Store. She sees the effects first hand. She says traffic jams span more than a mile during rush hour, which leads to people doing just that... Rushing.
"The greatest harm in that is then people are rushing to get into the intersection and when you rush to get into the intersection, accidents occur..."
Senator Corman says the South-Central Highway was ready to be designed a few years ago, but was pulled because of a lack of funds. He says the plan is in place, and it wouldn't take much to get it restarted. Corman adds it's time to pay the money now, or deal with the costs later...
"That problem's not going to go away, as much as we'd like it to. And I don't think we're saving people any money by not going ahead and doing this. So, I'd rather spend the money to build a new network, or repair the network, as opposed to spending money to maintain a deteriorating system."
Homan thinks that even if there's a funding problem, the state needs to find the money to get this done.
"Take a look at the number of serious accidents and deaths, that'll do it."
Senator Corman says there have been two governor reports stating that transportation needs to be looked at. He remains confident something can get done since it's a bipartisan issue, and the roadways affect everyone. He says it's his number one priority heading into this years legislative
session.
