Leslie Richards is the first planner to lead the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and she’s also a former township and county elected official. So she understands why local communities sometimes get frustrated with PennDOT for undertaking projects without considering local planning objectives until it’s too late.

The new PennDOT Connects program aims to change that.”We want to make sure we have a full awareness of the communities we’re working in so we can leverage our resources appropriately,” she said. “We want to make sure we’re delivering projects that improve economic competitiveness, access to work and overall quality of life. People choose to live and work where they do for a reason.”