After a decade in the making, the new Heights Drive extension connecting the Cranberry Heights neighborhood to Route 19 is open.

The road opened last week after extensive construction. A right turning lane onto Heights Drive also has been added to Route 19.

In June, construction crews began cutting out the Heights Drive extension. At about 1,900 feet in length, the connector bisects the Deener family property, a working farm off Route 19. The Deeners sold the land to the township for about $175,000 last year.

Originally dubbed the “northwest connector,” the road is an extension of the neighborhood’s Heights Drive. It provides a direct route to Route 19 for the people living in the 244 Cranberry Heights homes.

Prior to the road’s opening, residents had to travel the narrow and winding Bear Run Road to access the neighborhood from the highway.

At an estimated cost of $2 million, the project had hard time getting started.

Plans for the road were put on hold more than two years ago after the state Department of Environmental Protection required the township to determine if massasauga snakes were living in Cranberry before construction could begin. Under state law, the habitat of an endangered species cannot be destroyed.

A biologist Cranberry hired to examine the property later found no evidence of the rattlers.

Now that the road is open, what do you think?

Have you cut down on your commute? Are you worried about speeders? Or have the islands the township installed as traffic calming measures sufficiently slowed motorists? Are you relieved the new connector gives first responders quicker access to the neighborhood?

Sound off below in the comment section.