Construction on Bailey’s Crossroads near Carmichaels nearly finished
A view Tuesday afternoon of the reconfigured Bailey’s Crossroads intersection near Carmichaels.
Two tanker trucks turn left onto Route 21 at Bailey’s Crossroads in Cumberland Township in July 2015 before the intersection was reconfigured this year.
Design plans for the realignment of Route 21 at Bailey’s Crossroads.
CARMICHAELS – Construction on Bailey’s Crossroads near Carmichaels is wrapping up as crews are preparing to connect electricity to the reconfigured intersection’s traffic lights.
Raymond Deep, a community relations coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said Tuesday the orange barrels should be coming down “pretty soon” and the intersection fully open to cars by mid-November.
Right now, PennDOT is waiting for permission from West Penn Power to hook up the overhead traffic lights to two nearby transformers, Deep said. He did not have a timeline on when that would occur.
Once it does happen, the intersection will be fully operational with a turning lane from Route 21 onto West George Street and the stop light for traffic coming from Carmichaels to turn onto the state highway.
Currently, there is a stop sign for traffic on West George Street coming from Carmichaels and turning onto Route 21.
Plum Contracting of Greensburg performed the work on the $5.125 million project that should be completed by the mid-November goal.
Construction began in March to reshape the intersection to make the curve more natural on Route 21 and add a left-hand turn lane onto West George Street for traffic traveling to Carmichaels.
Before the project, traffic heading west on Route 21 had to stop at a T-intersection at George Street while traffic heading east continued unimpeded. The reconfigured intersection now gives traffic in both directions on Route 21 a through movement at the intersection. The four-way intersection will also give motorists easier access to Glade Run Road across from West George Street.
PennDOT traffic studies showed about 8,000 vehicles use that section of roadway each day and most cars traveling through the area are heading on Route 21 toward Masontown.
Construction crews also built another four-way intersection that connected Greene Valley Road and Muddy Creek Road to Route 21, allowing for easier access and better sight lines.