NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — It's a day many people thought would never come. But after more than 50 years of planning, officials celebrated the opening of the Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation project.
"It's a four-lane limited-access new roadway that connects Route 147 in Northumberland County to Routes 11 and 15 in Snyder County," PennDOT's Eric High said.
The thirteen-mile thruway project has been in the works since the late 1950s, but due to funding issues, construction did not start until 2015. The project is being done in two parts. The northern section will connect Route 147 in Northumberland County to Route 15 in Union County. The southern section will be another way to connect Route 15 to Selinsgrove.
"It's the missing link in the Route 15 corridor, and a lot of people have put a lot of effort into making it come to fruition," High said.
While the northern section is scheduled to open next week, work is just beginning on the southern section of the project.
"The people in Lewisburg, the people in Northumberland who are adversely impacted by the current traffic patterns, just this section alone will help them. Then when the whole project is done, Shamokin Dam will benefit," Shamokin Dam Mayor Joe McGranaghan said.
Joe McGranaghan is chairman of the Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation project taskforce. He sees the thruway as a benefit to everyone.
"The reduction in truck traffic will make our business community a lot more accessible to people without the fear of all that traffic," McGranaghan said.
The northern section of the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway project is scheduled to open next week. Construction recently started on the southern section, and that part is scheduled to open in 2027.
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