The state planned to run Routes 22/322 through the center of the park in the early 1970s. A group of environmentally conscious HACC students and faculty put a stop to that.
U.S. Routes 22/322 cross the Paxton Creek on the eastern edge of Wildwood Park in Harrisburg. The highway's original route from Cameron Street to Dauphin, proposed in the 1960s, would have run through the middle of the park. The state and the city wanted to build a “river relief route,” today U.S. Routes 22/322, from Harrisburg to Dauphin to alleviate traffic congestion on North Front Street and other major city roads.
The intersection of Interstate 81 and the "river relief route," today U.S. Routes 22/322, are shown in August 1978. Wildwood Lake is above the intersection, and HACC is to the left. The George N. Wade Bridge crosses the Susquehanna River after the Front Street exit at the upper left. significant highway construction in the midstate
The Harrisburg Audubon Society opposed the project in 1964, saying it would “desecrate” Wildwood Park. But it would take seven years for opposition to grow strong enough to stop the project. City and state officials made several arguments in support of the roadway, aside from relieving traffic congestion. They said rerouting the road would cause a delay of several years and boost costs, three-quarters of the Cameron Street property that would be affected by construction was zoned industrial, not residential, and pointed out that HACC itself was built on former Wildwood land.
At any rate, it was clear that the city saw little value in Wildwood Park. In August 1971, the City Council passed a resolution saying Wildwood had not been a “park of local significance” since at least 1964. Refurbishing the park would cost too much money, and its location near busy roads and a freight yard hindered accessibility to residents, the council said.
Under an agreement among CARE, the city, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration finalized in October 1973, the route was moved to the eastern end of Wildwood Park.
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