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City of Harrisburg introduces final design of State Street Project in townhall

Harrisburg residents expressed their support and concerns on the State Street Project, a newly made design to make the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — "On this street, I've been clipped multiple times," said Brandon Basom.

Basom is a bicyclist in Harrisburg. He says State Street has been the scene of many pedestrian death and car accidents for quite some time.

That's why the city of Harrisburg introduced the final design for the State Street project. It's designed to make this road safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

"State street is legally going to have the same amount of parking spaces that we are allowed to have and it's going to be safer," said Matt Maisel, Harrisburg's Director of Communications.

After hosting a series of townhalls, Maisel says parking and safety were the top two priorities among Harrisburg residents.

The new design features texturized crosswalks, flashing lights at intersections and more visibility around the corners of this street.

Some residents were in favor of this new design.

"This does take some steps to try to improve safety for both pedestrians and cyclists," said Jim Buckheit.

"I was only concerned about one thing and that was getting up and moving my car twice a day to let somebody ride their bike down through the city," said John Stuart, another Harrisburg resident.

Despite some community support, Basom wasn't 100% on board with the final design.

"The actual structural changes that would slow traffic and we know change lives haven't been done," he explained. "They have not decreased the number of lanes they have not added bike infrastructure pertaining to bike lanes."

Next, the city of Harrisburg has to get approval from PennDOT before officially restarting the State Street Project.

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