Representatives from the Centre Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Centre County Board of Commissioners and the Centre Region Planning Commission met last Thursday at an open hearing to form a cohesive policy on future road improvement in the area.

At a State Transportation Commission open hearing tomorrow, Centre Region Planning Director Bob Bini will present testimony requesting that PennDOT consider construction on both a Route 144 bypass and a Benner Pike relocation.

Gary Schultz and Joe Carroll of the MPO will also present testimony, and Floyd Reeser of Centre Hall will make a presentation requesting the Route 144 bypass for safety reasons, MPO chairman George Pytel said. The construction would bypass the municipalities of Potters Mills, Centre Hall and Pleasant Gap.

"We wanted to come up with a fair, reasonable approach to (PennDOT's) 12-year plan, involving both the Benner Pike relocation and the Route 144 bypass," Pytel said. The majority seemed to be in favor of the motion, he said.

In the audience last Thursday were members of the Bellefonte Borough Council, as well as representatives from Phillipsburg, area trucking companies, and concerned members of local communities.

PennDOT is already studying the possibility of a Route 144 bypass as well as two options for relocating Benner Pike. Area officials will request at STC's open hearing that PennDOT continue with that study and expand upon it to include both, Pytel said.

The basis for the expanded study will be the Travers Report, which outlines possible improvements for both roadways, Bini said. The report was compiled by University faculty and members of Travers Associates, an engineering firm.

PennDOT is looking at alternates in both corridors, but currently is not evaluating the possibility of construction in both, PennDOT District Engineer Thomas C. Ickes said.

"It will be difficult to get construction in both corridors, " Ickes said. "I wouldn't say there's a big chance, but I wouldn't say there's no chance," he said.

By combining PennDOT's effort with the Travers Report, a ten-year delay in planning and construction could be avoided, Pytel said.