Single-lane closures planned next week on Route 19
Drivers traveling Route 19 in South Strabane Township under Interstate 70 at the Murtland Avenue interchange should be prepared for single-lane closures next week as crews remove girders on the bridge on the eastbound side of the highway.
The work also will necessitate intermittent stoppages between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting. The remaining girders will be removed during daylight hours, said Eric Klimas, project manager for Golden Triangle Construction of Imperial, the general contractor on the project to construct a diverging diamond interchange at Murtland. The $54 million project is set to be completed in November 2017.
The restrictions on Route 19 are the only changes drivers will see in the traffic pattern in the construction zones on I-70 and Route 19 for at least the next few weeks.
“Right now, we are working on the southbound lanes of Route 19 and will stay in that configuration until the end of the construction season in November, so drivers will not have to worry about any more switches,” said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation who is overseeing the project.
“And we did the lane switch on I-70 earlier this month with three lanes on the westbound side, two going west and one going east,” he added. “The right, eastbound lane will use crossovers to get over the bridge on the westbound side of the highway as we demolish the bridge on the eastbound side.”
Faieta said crews are now working on the middle eastbound lane. Once that is done, the merge point for traffic coming from Interstate 79 southbound will be adjusted.
While there have been no problems with traffic backing up on I-70 eastbound, the same cannot be said for I-79 southbound, where there is often a backlog, especially from 3 to 7 p.m.
“We expect that to continue because there is not much we can do,” Faieta said. “If more drivers would use the left through lane on the eastbound side, that would help free it up. I think we have provided enough information for drivers that the right lane should be used by drivers getting off at Murtland.”
“The local drivers understand, but we can’t control the out-of-state drivers,” he added. “But regardless, there will be backups from time to time.”
PennDOT learned from past experience the importance of keeping all four lanes of a highway open during construction.
“We listened to the public and maintain four lanes,” Faieta said, recalling the outcry several years ago when I-70 was down to one lane in each direction during construction work. “But it probably increases the cost of the project by 10 to 15 percent. On this project, that would be about $5 million.”
Faieta said state police reported few problems other than last Thursday when a rig hauling an oversized load went off its route and knocked some Jersey barriers out of place. There is a 10-foot width restriction in the construction zone.
While the rain hampered some of the work, Faieta said it is still on schedule. Klimas said the work schedule is adjusted, and crews work six days a week when needed.
“But when it is done, drivers will have a nice connection between the two junctions,” Faieta said of the north and south junctions with I-79. “The flow will be much better.”