PennDOT secretary visits interchange
PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards discusses the diverging diamond interchange project that is scheduled to be completed in November 2017. Richards and other PennDOT officials held a news conference Thursday to discuss the interchange and encourage drivers to adhere to slower work zone speed limits.
The diverging diamond interchange work continues on Interstate 70 and Route 19 at the Murtland Avenue interchange. The new interchange is modeled after one that was created in Springfield, Mo., where there has been a 60 percent reduction in crashes.
The state Department of Transportation secretary called the diverging diamond interchange under construction on Interstate 70 and Route 19 at the Murtland Avenue interchange in South Strabane Township a great example of innovation to improve safety and mobility for motorists.
PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards visited the site Thursday to monitor progress on the $51.2 million project that started in the fall of 2014 and is set to be completed in November 2017.
Richards noted this is the first interchange of this design to be built in Pennsylvania. A second is being designed in the Harrisburg area. She said there was a 60 percent reduction in crashes in Springfield, Mo., where the first diverging diamond interchange was built.
The diverging diamond interchange is designed to require traffic to cross over and switch lanes on Route 19, with traffic signals directing the flow to allow drivers to pass through the area or get onto I-70 eastbound or westbound. It will eliminate the outdated cloverleaf interchange.
Joseph Szczur, district executive for PennDOT’s District 12, which includes Washington County, said if a more conventional interchange had been built instead of the diverging diamond, it likely would have closed several businesses adjacent to the highway because more land would have been needed.
“We needed minimal right-of-ways with this project,” Szczur said.
Drivers going through the Murtland project on the interstate should expect a change in traffic pattern next month. Westbound traffic will be switched to the eastbound side around April 14, said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer overseeing the project. Two lanes of traffic will be maintained in each direction. Any single-lane restrictions will occur from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Richards said the work includes one mile of full-depth concrete reconstruction of the westbound lanes and the reconstruction of three structures. Permanent traffic signals and poles also will be built this year.
“This is the first phase of work to have three lanes between the north and south junctions of Interstate 79,” Richards added. State police Lt. Douglas Bartoe, patrol section supervisor for Troop B, headquartered in Washington, said troopers will be out in force this Easter holiday weekend along I-70, not only in the Murtland area but from the West Virginia state line to New Stanton.
“With the upcoming construction season, troopers will be putting extra effort in the work zones,” Bartoe said. “Since the beginning of March, troopers have written more than 300 traffic citations to drivers on I-70 throughout the county.
“Slow down not only in this construction zone, but when you go through the ones at Bentleyville, Centerville and Speers,” he added. “And be mindful of workers.”
A law signed last November by Gov. Tom Wolf that will go into effect May 24 will increase penalties for speeding in work zones.
For more information on construction work on I-70, check www.I-70Projects.com.