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Ramps close on I-70 at Murtland Avenue

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Traffic southbound on Route 19 at the Murtland Avenue exit of Interstate 70 is bumper to bumper back to Trinity Point in South Strabane Township as workers realign the roadway and activate traffic lights at the construction site Wednesday afternoon.

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Traffic southbound on Route 19 at the Murtland Avenue exit of Interstate 70 is bumper to bumper back to Trinity Point in South Strabane Township as workers realign the roadway and activate traffic lights at the construction site Wednesday afternoon.

Drivers got their first taste Wednesday of what traffic will look like throughout this construction season as two Interstate 70 ramps closed and were switched to temporary ones, while traffic signals were turned on so motorists could turn left onto Route 19 in South Strabane Township.

The ramps that take I-70 east to Route 19 north and I-70 west to Route 19 north closed and traffic was switched to temporary ramps built adjacent to the ramps for southbound traffic. The temporary signals will allow drivers to make left turns onto Route 19. Left turns from Route 19 south onto Raymond Boulevard leading to Washington Chevrolet and Northwest Savings Bank will be prohibited during the construction because the lane is needed to handle the traffic pattern changes.

The closures are part of work being done to construct a diverging diamond interchange at Murtland. When the interchange is done in November 2017, drivers will cross over and switch lanes on Route 19 with traffic signals controlling the flow to allow motorists to either pass through the area or get on the highway.

Golden Triangle Construction of Imperial, Allegheny County, started work on the $53 million project in September.

“It was a lot of work in progress out there today,” Eric Klimas, Golden Triangle project manager, said Wednesday of the switch. “Once we activated the signals on so they were going to red, yellow or green, we were closing the ramps off.”

“South Strabane Township police have been out there helping us out and I think that has been effective,” he added. “There have not been too many belligerent drivers because they see the police.”

Township police Chief Don Zofchak said there were some traffic back-ups Wednesday, especially around the lunch hour, because traffic was down to a single lane on Route 19 in the area. The road will be open to two lanes in each direction again Thursday.

“There will be traffic pattern changes at different times,” Zofchak said. “It is going to take some getting used to but people are just going to be patient or use alternate routes.”

State police Lt. Douglas Bartoe, patrol section supervisor for Troop B in Washington, said no issues were reported Wednesday on the main line of the interstate. He said there are problems when the eastbound lane is restricted to a single lane in the construction zone on the highway between the north junction with Interstate 79 and the Beau Street exit.

“We’ve had a few crashes,” Bartoe said. “Traffic then backs up past the junction.”

Klimas said pedestrian traffic is prohibited in the construction zone.

“We’ve been having problems with people wanting to walk on Route 19,” Klimas said. “It is a safety issue for them and a safety and liability issue for us.”

Route 19 was restricted Wednesday night to a single lane so that barriers could be set in the work zone to protect construction crews as they work as well as block off the ramps.

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