Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project

U.S. Route 15 is the only major north-south corridor in Central Pennsylvania and one of only four major north-south corridors in the Commonwealth. Not only does U.S. Route 15 serve intrastate, interstate, and international traffic, it is the economic lifeline in Pennsylvania. The portion of U.S. Route 15 through the Central Susquehanna Valley has experienced increasing traffic volumes as well as a high proportion of truck traffic over the last few years.

Orth-Rodgers & Associates, Inc. (ORA), is part of the design team that is examining the approximately 20-mile Central Susquehanna Valley transportation corridor to determine existing and future traffic conditions. This study included establishing the existing transportation conditions, projecting future traffic, determining the specific needs of the corridor, forecasting future traffic and assessing future operational conditions for Phase I and Phase II improvement alternatives.

The first major milestone of the project – Definition of Needs – identified several needs related to system capacity and safety for the study corridor that warranted a new four-lane, limited access roadway. Given the controversial nature of the project, the determination of whether alternatives meet the project need has been a critical component of ORA work.

Throughout the study, ORA has been providing general traffic engineering services including data collection, accident analysis, operational analysis, travel forecasting, and systems analysis utilizing innovative simulation techniques. In fact, the computer simulations produced by ORA for the Phase II alternatives have been widely used by the study team to enhance public understanding, feedback, and consensus.