FRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) — The Venango County Commissioners held a meeting with local business leaders, PennDOT, and Max Heckman from Michael Baker International concerning PennDOT’s 15-month study on whether to change Route 8 from four lanes to two on the roadway just north of Barkeyville to Franklin.

“We had 30 to 40 business leaders representing pretty much every sector inside and outside the county,” Venango County commissioner Albert “Chip” Abramovic said. “We had people from manufacturing, foresting, from pretty much everyone who uses that road.”

According to Abramovic, Tom McClelland, an engineer for PennDOT, was also at the meeting with Heckman.

“I think they listened to what the people had to say,” Abramovic said. “It was really good. Hopefully, we can do another one of these in the near future.”

Abramovic said some business leaders told McClelland and Heckman that the four-lane section of Route 8 is the only reason they are located in Venango County.

“We don’t have a large rail infrastructure,” Abramovic said. “So anything that needs to be moved needs to be moved over the road. If it goes from four lanes to two lanes it kills our lifeblood.”

Abramovic also said his fellow commissioner, Vincent Witherup, made a valid point about how reducing the roadway to two lanes would hurt not only Venango County but also Warren County.

“As Vince said, how much does this affect Warren County?” Abramovic said. “There are really only two ways into Warren County from this direction, Route 38 to Route 666 and Route 8. And Route 38 to Route 666 isn’t really a great way.”

In June, PennDOT announced it was having Michael Baker International conduct a traffic study, to be completed in the spring of 2018, on the limited-access portion of Route 8; however, the goal of the study wasn’t to make the four-lane highway into a two-lane road, according to PennDOT spokesperson Jim Carroll at the time.

“We commissioned a study, being done by Michael Baker International, that started in April 2017 and will last through April 2018,” Carroll told exploreVenango in June.

“That section of the Route 8 Expressway is nearing the end of its pavement life cycle, and reconstruction and resurfacing will be needed. That is potentially an expensive project.”

According to Carroll, the study is looking at the road to see what its needs are moving forward.

“It’s laying the groundwork for the project,” Carroll said. “The first perception is that we are doing the study to reduce it to two lanes. That is not the goal. The goal is to examine how the road best serves the region and how it serves the needs of the communities. It’s possible that the outcome could be reducing lanes, but that isn’t the purpose (of the study). The purpose is to look at the needs of the road, how it fits economic development, community aspirations, and how it serves the region.”

On Thursday, McClelland told the local business leaders that the study is aimed at a number of different areas including what the future volume of the road might be, what the economic impact of the road is, and safety enhancements to the road. He also said PennDOT wants to be a “good steward” of taxpayer money.

Along those lines, PennDOT has collected data from businesses and other local interests and that most people have said they don’t want to see the roadway changed into two lanes.

That would jive with a study being conducted by the Venango County Chamber of Commerce.

In early November, Chamber Director Susan Williams told exploreVenango that they had received around 60 surveys at the time from business owners and individuals.

“So far, no one has said it’s a good idea,” Williams said at the time. “We don’t see any positives in making it two lanes as far as the economic benefit of the area.”

“This is a huge deal to the region. Accessibility to the area is very important to manufacturers and making that section of road two lanes could affect growth and retention. Even losing one business could have a negative effect on others.”