This mural was made possible through a grant from the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. The Borough has applied to LHHC for another grant to aid in some of the costs for the square project.
Square Plan
This is an overview of the project history and timeline for the Abbottstown Square Beautification Project. This list does not include all of the meetings, submissions and requirements but only the milestones since the beginning of the project.
May 2004
Adams County Commissioners Tom Weaver and Lucy Lott attended the Borough Council meeting and made us aware of the Home Town Streets and Safe Routes to School Program
Program Description – intended to improve the quality of life in our communities; encourage the reinvestment in and redevelopment of our downtowns; establish, where feasible, safe walking routes for our children to commute to school and to promote healthy living. This is not a grant but a reimbursement for actual construction costs.
Program will include a variety of streetscape improvements. Projects may include sidewalk improvements, planters, benches, street lighting, pedestrian crossings, traffic calming, and other visual elements.
Program Manager – PennDOT, in coordination with numerous other agencies
July 2004
Received proposal from Dewberry to prepare an application for funding through the Home Town Streets Program and submit it by the August 1, 2004 deadline.
Dewberry submitted application to Adams County Office of Planning and Development
Project Description – project includes decorative street lighting, brick sidewalk installation, curb replacement, stamped asphalt crosswalks, traffic sign replacement, landscaping and the installation of accessible ramps. The improvements have been selected to improve pedestrian safety at this intersection and to enhance the aesthetics of the area. Abbottstown Borough serves as the Gateway to Adams County for motorists traveling West on Route 30 and is the Eastern entrance to the Commonwealth’s officially designated “Lincoln Highway Heritage Highway Park” which ends near Pittsburgh.
October 2004
Dewberry made a presentation to Adams County Planning Commission. Becky Fengfish represented Abbottstown Borough
Received letters of endorsement from Representative Nickol, Adams County Commissioners, and Adams County Office of Planning
November 2004
Favorable review and recommendation of application by the Adams County Transportation Planning Organization (ACTPO) to PennDOT
March 2005
Ceremonial check in the amount of $150,650 was presented by Gov. Ed Rendell to Mayor Charles Stonesifer, Becky Fengfish, and Dewberry engineer Tom Ladue. The funds will be issued as reimbursement for actual construction expenses.
Kickoff Meeting and Field View with PennDOT, Dewberry, Dale Reichert and Becky Fengfish. Meeting held on the square so that PennDOT could review the concept plan on site and prepare their report.
April 2005
Per Dewberry, there is little more we can do until PennDOT holds the Scoping meeting.
July 2005
Received Authorization to Proceed with Preliminary Engineering from PennDOT
September 2005
Dewberry submitted Categorical Exclusion Scoping Field View package, as required, to PennDOT
Special public meeting held at Abbottstown Fire Co for the purpose of having Dewberry present the concept plan and project description in greater detail than previously presented at Borough Council meetings, to answer any questions, and form a committee of people interested in working on the project.
October 2005
Square Committee meeting held. Forwarded suggested revisions to Dewberry and they made changes to the plan.
November 2005
Environmental Impact & Assessment Scoping Field View with PennDOT held on the Abbottstown Square.
Received notification from PennDOT and Dewberry that additional engineering services will be required and the Borough will incur additional expenses that cannot be funded with the Home Town Streets grant money. PennDOT requires the additional engineering due to a change to the environmental clearance requirements.
December 2005
Submitted grant pre-application to the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor to apply for funding.
Dewberry revised the plan based on recommendations PennDOT made during the Field Scoping View meeting
January 2006
Dewberry attended the Borough Council meeting to present the revisions to the plan since the Field Scoping meeting and discussed the new PennDOT requirements. Borough Council gave Dewberry approval to continue with the project with the additional costs.
Dewberry attended the Adams County Transportation Planning Organization meeting to request additional funding for the project. We will need to accelerate the date of construction in order to be eligible.
February 2006
Square Committee meeting held to continue with the project since the approval to proceed was given to Dewberry
March 2006
Received an invitation to submit a full application package to the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor.
Dewberry will continue to work with PennDOT on design field view, safety review, and environmental clearance, obtaining right of way permission from affected property owners, utility clearance, Historic and Archaeological review. The Borough Council and Square Committee will continue to meet and to work with Dewberry and PennDOT to complete the project.