CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Residents in Centre County continue to make their voices heard regarding the State College Area Connector Project, with many homes and properties potentially in the line of construction.
Darlington Farms is home to a storied legacy of 13 generations of farmers. After the original 305-year-old farm in Delaware County was taken over by governmental agencies, the family moved to Centre Hall.
The matriarch, Bonnie Darlington, said the family’s current farm is in jeopardy, due to its location in the proposed routes of the State College Area Connector Project near Route 322.
“Farms is where your food comes from,” Darlington said. “If you wipe them out and destroy your food production land, somewhere along the line you, your grandchildren or great-grandchildren are going to have to pay for your mistakes of allowing this to happen.”
PennDOT is counting and documenting traffic between Boalsburg and Potter Mills through December 9 for the project. Officials are continuing to hear the thoughts of residents in the area.
“They wanna just make sure that we’re moving as quickly as possible,” Assistant District Engineer Dean Ball said. “I can understand the anxiety with people who live in the area who are trying to figure out where it’s going.”
With multiple proposals still on the table, Darlington said one option that would widen the existing Route 322 which would keep the farm in operation.
Get daily updates on local news, weather and sports by signing up for the WTAJ Newsletter.
“We don’t want to give it up, we don’t want to lose it,” Darlington said. “We’re asking, “please, don’t take it this time.”
PennDOT said they will continue to have more public comment periods in the future to hear from residents and will be sharing information from their October open house.