PennDOT discusses projects

More than 198 miles of roadway were resurfaced, and 41 bridges repaired or replaced this year, in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s six-county District 5 region.

That announcement came during an event held by PennDOT District 5 Executive Michael R. Rebert recently.

The District 5 region includes Carbon, Schuylkill, Monroe, Lehigh, Northampton and Berks counties.

This work contributed to the statewide PennDOT total work that, through October, had resurfaced about 2,100 roadway miles and put out contracts to preserve, repair and replace more than 450 state-owned bridges and 18 locally owned bridges, and completed 20 bridge projects with department forces.

Rebert outlined many of the major projects District 5 either completed or started this year, and when they are anticipated to be finished in 2018.

“Our transportation network is critical to moving goods and people and keeping Pennsylvania growing,” Rebert said in a news release. “The funding and the projects it provides is critical to maintaining and expanding our robust highway network.”

Through the end of October, PennDOT had put out 588 total project contracts worth nearly $1.9 billion this year. Rebert also noted that Gov. Tom Wolf announced the department’s Road Maintenance and Preservation, or Road MaP, initiative earlier this year which adds additional investments in roadway maintenance, especially on lower-traffic roadways, as well as the interstate system.

The Road MaP investments will build on the department’s investments across the state. Of the miles paved through October, more than 100 were on interstates and more than 960 were on lower-traffic roadways with fewer than 2,000 vehicles daily.

Some of the projects either underway or completed in 2017 are:

Carbon County

• Replace the Route 534 Bridge over Swamp Run in Kidder Township, $1.09 million, February 2017-May 2018.

• Resurfacing of Route 209 in Lansford, $2.89 million, September 2017-October 2018.

• Resurfacing of Route 209 in Summit Hill and Nesquehoning boroughs, $1.22 million, October 2017-August 2018.

• Route 209 emergency rock slide remediation in Mahoning Township, $354,000, October 2017.

Schuylkill County

• Route 309 Patch & Pave including milling, concrete patching, base repairs, paving, concrete island replacements, minor bridge repair work, guide rail updates, and new pavement markings in Tamaqua and Rush Township, $3.4 million, September 2016-December 2017.

• Project to improve Interstate 81 between exits 124 (Route 61) and 131 (Route 54) in Ryan and Mahanoy townships, work on this section of Interstate 81 includes milling, paving, and placing new line paint on the section of Interstate 81, also includes milling and paving the interchange ramps at Exit 124, $10.99 million, April 2017-July 2018.

• Route 309 resurfacing in West Penn Township, resurfacing of about 3.2 miles consisting of bituminous overlay, pavement markings and other miscellaneous items, $981,000, July-October 2017.

• Route 309 Pavement Preservation Project in Rush Township (2 miles). Includes bituminous milling, a bituminous overlay, accelerated concrete patching, transverse and longitudinal joint cleaning and sealing, concrete island replacement, new pavement markings, guide rail updates, and other miscellaneous items, $3.86 million, September 2017-December 2018).

Monroe County

• Interstates 80 & 380 median barrier — installation of high tension cable median barrier, Type 2-S Median Barrier, Type 2-S Guide Rail, and permanent impact attenuating devices in areas that do not currently have any, $2.17 million, September 2016-July 2017.

• Interstate 80 resurfacing (milling, concrete patching, joint cleaning and sealing, overlay, guide rail, pavement markings) between exits 284 and 294 in Tobyhanna, Tunkhannock and Jackson townships, $7 million, July 2017-September 2018.

Carbon/Schuylkill/Monroe

• Repairs to eight bridges to include structural steel repairs, concrete deck repairs, concrete beam and substructure repairs, bearing repairs, joint repairs/joint sealing, zone painting, median barrier, scour countermeasures and channel repairs, along with other miscellaneous construction in various municipalities in Carbon, Monroe and Schuylkill counties, $2.57 million, September 2014-September 2017, five bridges in Carbon.

• Repairs to 13 bridges to include structural steel repairs, concrete deck repairs, concrete beam and substructure repairs, bearing repairs, joint repairs/joint sealing, zone painting, median barrier, scour countermeasures and channel repairs, along with other miscellaneous construction in various municipalities in Carbon, Monroe and Schuylkill counties, $5.74 million, August 2016-August 2019, three bridges in Carbon.

Northampton County

• Project to improve the intersection of Route 248 and Route 946 in Lehigh Township: roadway improvements include widening of the intersection of Route 248 and Route 946/West Mountain Drive, traffic signal upgrades, and paving of Route 248 from Poplar Drive to Aspen Drive, Route 946 from Route 248 to Pecan Drive, and West Mountain Road from Route 248 to Hickory Drive, $1.115 million, October 2016-November 2017.

• Route 512 Resurfacing Project to resurface Route 512 and other state routes in Lehigh, Palmer, Plainfield townships, City of Easton, and Wind Gap Borough, $3.35 million, April-September 2017.

• Rehabilitation on Maple Drive Bridge over Bertsch Creek in Lehigh Township, $700,000, March-October 2017).

Lehigh County

• Route 22 at Fullerton Avenue Interchange reconstruction and replacement of Route 22 bridges over the Lehigh River, $64.7 million, August 2015-August 2019.

• Repair and resurface of Interstate 78 in Lehigh County, $7.64 million, August 2017-August 2018.

• Addition of an auxiliary lane on Interstate 78 east and west between Route 22 and Route 100 in Upper Macungie Township, $5.1 million, June 2017-May 2018.

Completion dates for projects still under construction are estimates and subject to change.

For more information on projects occurring or being bid this year, those made possible by or accelerated by the state transportation funding plan (Act 89), or those on the department’s Four and Twelve Year Plans, visit www.projects.penndot.gov.