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The City of Williamsport has approved a revised Interstate 99 lighting agreement with the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT), and it's going to save money for the city.
In presenting the resolution request to the City Council, Mayor Derek Slaughter noted how the Route 15, between the spur in the city and New York was renamed I-99.
As part of that PennDOT reached out to the city and wanted to transfer ownership back to them. This original agreement goes back to 1971 between the city and PennDOT, where it was a 50/50 with the city having to oversee the maintenance of the lights .
This is the transfer of ownership, operation and maintenance and responsibility for the future electrical service costs of the roadway lighting system from the city to PennDOT, according to the revised agreement.
"This will obviously be saving us not just time in labor but also money," Slaughter said.
It means the city does not have to pay for the 50 % any longer.
"Do we have any idea on the anticipated fiscal savings?" asked Councilman Vincent Pulizzi.
City finance director Jamie Livermore said she would provide those numbers.
"I do know the lighting is quite expensive," she said.
Revised lighting agreement spurs discussion on the highway system
"Mayor Slaughter, if you can, can you give us some benefits the City of Williamsport is going have with now Interstate 99 coming through the city?" asked Council President Eric Beiter.
"I think there is a lot between, obviously, more people being able to come here and also with the connector south down in the Lewisburg area," Slaughter said.
Also, this will be a western corridor out to Bedford, Slaughter noted. From Bedford up I-99 to Williamsport and north to New York state – "you should, hopefully, see more people coming here, using our businesses, restaurants and all that," he said. "I know the state has been promoting it pretty hard, I think we will see a lot of benefits, not just Williamsport but the surrounding region," he said.
"It's exciting because the future I-99 corridor signs have been up for about 25 years," Beiter said.
Also, Interstate 80 toward State College is going to be a part of I-99.
"Yep, they are doing one of the off-ramps over there when you get off of Interstate 80 to go to State College where I-99 used to start, they are redoing that whole interchange there, so you can easily get off of I-80 to I-99 and vice versa," Beiter said. "The state is investing heavily into that, the federal government as well," he said.
The Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project or CSVT became part of the discussion as well.
Councilman Adam Yoder remarked to Slaughter's reference of the construction around Selinsgrove tying into what is happening.
"As you get on between Selinsgrove and Harrisburg on that loop right there there is construction happening there," Slaughter said.
"That connects what they have done to the north side of Shamokin Dam," Yoder said. "They will connect that to the south side of where you would come out from the strip in Selinsgrove and it's all one straight shot," he said.
It is going to be a lot more convenient traveling from south central Pennsylvania, south western Pennsylvania, New York into this thruway, Yoder said.
"Right," Slaughter replied.
"It's been a long time coming," Yoder said.
Councilwoman Liz Miele, after fielding a complaint about the transportation access into the city, suggested that corollary and complementary discussion occur with those in the transit fields as these changes take place to better position the city for future ways to more efficiently attract incoming residents, draw employees, bring in businesses and hold business conferences.
"We can definitely look into that," Slaughter said.