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Instead, they are planning for an austere environment for transportation funding for the next five years.
Traffic signals might be synchronized to reduce backups, but don't expect new roads to be built, said Dave Royer, the county's transportation director.
On Monday, Royer made his initial presentation on a transportation plan for 2011 to 2014. That plan will be finalized and be the subject of public hearings in the coming summer.
The presentation was made to representatives of state and local government, planners and transportation organizations. Royer started by warning his audience not to expect much in coming years.
He said that anticipated funding will be about half of what is needed for the county's transportation system.
The current transportation improvement plan anticipates $60.5 million annually to maintain and improve roadways and bridges and make other improvements in Lancaster County.
That amount already is $12 million less than what is needed to make reasonable improvements to the existing system, Royer said.
In drafting the upcoming funding plan, Royer is expecting about $49.3 million in annual funding. That figure is based on the failure of the state to put tolls in place on Interstate 80 across the northern part of the state. With toll revenue, the funding would have been flat at about $60. 5 million, he said.
Royer does not expect federal transportation funding to fill the gap. The federal transportation bill expired at the end of September and a reauthorization is in the works, but funding is not expected to increase, Royer said.
Some $29.1 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds — stimulus money — is being used to resurface portions of Route 222, Route 30 and Beaver Valley Pike and other roads. But that is a one- or two-year windfall.
After that federal money is gone, Royer said, the county will return to low-budget highway improvements.
Those are likely to include traffic signal coordination on the major corridors and in boroughs, and a few intersection and bridge improvements.
Some signal coordination has already been done, Royer said. In the past two weeks, signals on Rohrerstown Road, Lititz Pike, Centerville Road and Columbia Avenue have been synchronized, he said.
"It doesn't mean that if you drive the speed limit you're going to hit green the whole way, but it does minimize delays," Royer said.
Signal coordination on Harrisburg Pike and on Main Street in Mount Joy should be done next year, Royer said.
After engineering studies are complete, likely in 2012, coordination should be coming to portions of Oregon Pike, New Holland Avenue and Fruitville Pike, and in Columbia and Millersville boroughs.
Other low-cost improvements being considered for the plan are at Route 501 and Oregon Pike around the Golden Triangle shopping center and around routes 30 and 896.
Bridges slated for replacement under the plan include the North Locust Street bridge over the Santo Domingo Creek in Lititz; the Rohrerstown Road bridge over the Little Conestoga Creek in Manheim Township; and the Indian Hill Road bridge over Good's Run in Pequea Township, Royer said.
Those bridges top a list of 22 municipally owned bridges that are structurally deficient and eligible for federal funds for replacement or removal.
