An increasing volume of commuter and truck traffic between Route 322 and Interstate 80 sparked concern at yesterday's Centre Region Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.

Municipal communities and roadways in this area are rapidly becoming unable to handle the traffic increase, said Bob Donaldson, director of the Centre County Planning Commission.

The organization discussed one change that would redirect this traffic flow involving Route 144, which now runs through the communities of Centre Hall, Pleasant Gap, Potters Mills and over Nittany Mountain.

A rerouting of Route 144 would convey truck traffic around the mountain, avoiding steep grades by bypassing Potters Mills to the east, Centre Hall to the west, Pleasant Gap to the east, and finally connecting with the Bellefonte Bypass (Route 26) at the intersection of Routes 26 and 64, said Tom Zilla, Centre Regional Planning Commission transportation planner. The rerouting would add about 10 additional miles to routes currently used by truckers.

However, a representative of Butler Trucking noted yesterday that computerized routing systems plot the shortest travel distance, not necessarily the easiest, and questioned the feasibility of truckers actually using the bypass.

Another concern addressed by the organization yesterday was the perceived need to extend the Benner Pike. An extension would deter the extremely high traffic volume that results in current congestion and delays on that roadway, Zilla said.

The lengthening of Benner Pike would likely begin at the Park Avenue and Route 322 interchange near Beaver Stadium, continue northeast to the State Correctional Facility at Rockview, cross Route 150, and then connect with the Bellefonte Bypass a few miles north of the Route 26/64 intersection.

However, both possible reroutes are only loose suggestions, as "no specific corridors or alignments have been discussed," Zilla said.

On March 9, testimony addressing the need for local road improvements will be presented by the planning organization to the State Transportation Commission, which may decide whether those improvements warrant PennDOT's attention in its state-wide 12-year improvement plan.

Yesterday the planning organization tabled final action on the projects until March 2, when it will meet with the Centre County Planning Commission and the Centre County Board of Commissioners.

"We need to arrive at a solid, unified suggestion to present to the STC," CRMPO chairman George Pytel said. "We're all in favor of a truck bypass and also a Benner Pike extension, even it takes a little longer to get both of them."

However, PennDOT representative Thomas Ickes indicated the chances for both projects receiving attention in this 12-year plan are "not likely."

Pytel, who represents Ferguson Township on the CRMPO, acknowledged the near certainty that both projects, if approved, will not proceed simultaneously.

"My feeling is if we can't get both, we need the 144 bypass in," he said.