When it comes to snaring state money for highway projects, Dennis Puko has found that can be a long, long road.

As the executive director of Mercer County Planning Commission, Puko has tried over the years to drive local projects to the top of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's list. For the last 30 years, Puko and his predecessors have pitched to the state Transportation Commission that the Route 60 and Route 318 interchange in West Middlesex and Shenango Township should be completed.

He gave it another shot Friday when the Transportation Commission held a public hearing at the Hickory VFW in Hermitage. The commission sets priorities throughout the state and decides how construction funds should be divvied up. Since the state has a massive 12-year highway plan that includes all the hopes and dreams of communities, projects placed in the first four years of the plan are regarded as having the best shot at getting fully funded.

After Puko gave the commission an overview of all the projects being sought in Mercer County, other local representatives added specifics.

As it stands, the existing half-diamond interchange at routes 60 and 318 results in 400 trucks a day trekking through West Middlesex, said Mourice Waltz, a local consultant. That's because the uncompleted diamond allows no access to or from the south on 318. Estimated price tag of the project is $15 million.

Sharpsville Borough Manager Mike Wilson asked the commission to fund construction of a bridge over Pine Hollow on Lamor Road in Sharpsville, South Pymatuning Township and Hermitage. Cited as the county's top priority, the hilly and curving road is a hazard to school buses, trucks and regular traffic, Wilson said.

"A bridge is the most efficient and cost-effective manner to solve the problem,'' Wilson said. He told the commission that when the project was first presented 15 years ago it had an estimated cost of $1.5 million, but now would cost between $4 million and $5 million.

Improvements totaling up to $12 million for the Interstate 79 ramp onto Route 208, which leads to Prime Outlets at Grove City in Springfield Township, is another top priority, Puko told the commission.

"It is evident the existing system has problems, with traffic backing up,'' he said.

Other local projects touted were:

030509