Driving in the borough may be smoother after October 1991 because the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is planning large-scale resurfacing of 5.6 miles of State College roads.

The estimated $1.8 million plan calls for both milling and paving the length of East College Avenue from High Street to South Atherton Street. A new surface will also be put on West College Avenue from Buckhout Street to the Atherton Street intersection, however the original road will not be milled, according to PennDOT.

In addition, construction will be done on 3.5 miles of South Atherton Street from the College Avenue intersection to Route 45.

Aside from repaving, a major feature of the project is a plan for widening parts of East College Avenue (from Houserville Road to Struble Road) and South Atherton Street (from Branch Road to Route 45). PennDOT also intends to create an additional lane on Atherton Street for left turns.

All drainage grates along the routes will be equipped with bicycle-proof coverings as well.

Yash Parmar, district plans engineer for the PennDOT Clearview office, said construction will start sometime in August of this year and is expected to be completed by October 1991.

Parmar said the affected roads will remain open throughout construction and traffic will not be diverted. Visitors to the upcoming Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts need not worry about delays, since contractual agreements prevent work during the event, he said.

However, Parmer said the project could be delayed if the state is not able to quickly acquire the land from Hublers Road to Meyers Dairy necessary for the extra lane. However, he said this purchase probably will be made within two months.

Three-quarters of the funds for the work comes from federal sources, Parmar said, with the remaining coming from the commonwealth. Contributing $64,000 to the state funding is a group of developers working on the Canturbury Crossing, Windmere, and Scenery Park housing developments.

This payment will provide for a turning lane leading to Scenery Drive, the road connecting the developments to Route 322. Bob Poole of S & A Homes, a member of the group, also said exit lanes must be built by the developers, as part of county authorization for using the land.

Instead of working individually, the developers decided to pool funds and coordinate their efforts with the PennDOT project, Poole said.

"With the amount of traffic out there it really is needed," Poole added.

PennDOT's Parmar said the agency told the developers it also would be cheaper for them if the state did the job.

The entire resurfacing project received approval from the Centre Region Metropolitan Planning Organization in February, said Transportation Planner Tom Zilla. He said the advisory organization amended the plan to the already authorized widening project, after learning about the existence of excess funds.

PennDOT will not touch the portion of College Avenue between Atherton and High streets before Aug. 1, 1991, so the borough can install a new sewer system, Parmar said.