Warren's plans to take over ownership of a five-block stretch of Pennsylvania Ave. in the "Impact Warren" area has "a strong chance" of being approved, according to the county's PennDOT supervisor.

"Impact Warren" plans call for parking, curbing and crosswalks to be changed along Pennsylvania Ave. within the central district.

But most of the changes can not be made as long as the highway is owned by the state. Warren-Forest Counties PennDOT supervisor Terry Keefer said Warren Mayor Mark Phillips and council member David See first approached him with conceptual drawings for a reconfigured Pennsylvania Ave. several years ago.

"Conceptually, it looks so good," said Keefer, "but there are some things such as diagonal parking they would not be allowed to do."

Keefer recalls telling the city officials at the time, "If you really want to do what you're showing me, you have to own it."

Since that time city officials have been working with PennDOT regarding the transfer of ownership of the five blocks between Market St. and Laurel St. to the city.

As of Friday, Keefer said, "It's still in the discussion stages." But Keefer added, "I think the proposal right now looks very, very good. I think it has a real strong chance of moving forward."

Keefer said, "There's no final agreement, but the ball's in our court. We want to make sure we meet the city's needs and we're definitely working on it."

PennDOT has a "Hometown Streets" program which allows municipalities to take over ownership of state roads, said Keefer. The summer Ribfest is a good example of why the downtown corridor would be "a good fit" for the turn-back program, said Keefer.

"It would fit in very, very well with what the city is trying to do," said Keefer.

"They came to us to close the street for Ribfest. If they owned that part of the street, they wouldn't have to come to us for permission."

With ownership, would come the responsibility for maintenance, but Keefer said PennDOT would make any necessary improvements to the street's surface before turning the five blocks over to the city.

"PennDOT is unable to to finance all the changes the city wants to make," said Keefer, "but we can meet the structural needs" such as inlets, paving and base repair.

The fact that there are still bricks beneath some sections of Pennsylvania Ave. should not be a problem, said Keefer, especially said the city has plans to route most truck traffic around the downtown and riverfront revitalization area.

"To remove bricks can be fairly costly," said Keefer. "Bricks are not necessarily bad. You can still get a good surface down and if trucks are limited, it's not really an issue."

Ultimately, PennDOT's central office in Harrisburg will make the decision on whether to turn ownership of the five blocks over to the city, said Keefer.

"We'd like to see it come to fruition and we're working on it," said Keefer.