PennDOT projects in Westmoreland, neighboring counties part of $585M construction budget
Mar. 29—Replacement of the Route 356 bridge over Pine Run in Allegheny Township and resurfacing of an 8-mile stretch of Route 136 are set to get underway in Westmoreland County in the months ahead.
They join 64 other highway and bridge construction projects PennDOT has awarded or intends to advertise for bids this year in Westmoreland and three neighboring counties.
The 66 projects represent $279 million in funding — joining 39 previously approved projects that will see continued work this year, for a 2023 district construction budget totaling about $585 million.
Included are paving of 148 miles of roadway, work on 61 bridges and repairs of 33 slides.
It's the second year projects in PennDOT District 12 have received a boost from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is pumping an extra $113 million into state transportation improvements from 2022-26 in Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Greene counties.
"Funding from the BIL has helped PennDOT District 12 increase its construction project bid capacity to the highest level since 2016," District 12 Executive Director Bill Kovach said Tuesday as his staff previewed plans for this year's construction season at PennDOT's Washington County maintenance office in Eighty Four.
District 12 is planning "a very aggressive year in construction," said Bill Beaumariage, assistant district executive in charge of construction.
Route 51
Work is continuing on improvement of the Route 51 interchange along Interstate 70 in Rostraver.
The $120.6 million project will replace an existing cloverleaf design with a "diverging diamond" format.
Lanes of traffic on new twin Route 51 bridges will switch to the opposite of the road and back again, through signalized intersections. That will allow drivers to turn left to enter the interstate without crossing opposing lanes.
Project work underway or planned this year includes construction of embankments for the new Route 51 bridges, earth-moving to prepare for new on-ramps and deck and steel repairs on the Matthew Smelser Memorial Bridge on I-70 in South Huntingdon.
I-70
There will be a series of single-lane restrictions on I-70. Construction is expected to continue over several years, with completion targeted for October 2027.
The next major I-70 project, which could be let late this year or early in 2024, will update the Arnold City interchange a short distance to the west — with a roundabout connected to the eastbound ramps.
The Arnold City project is expected to include replacement of the Crawford Lane bridge over I-70. That span has been struck by vehicles passing beneath that were too high — as have the existing Route 51 bridge and the bridge on Route 201 (Rostraver Road) in Rostraver.
Rostraver Road
Beginning April 10, the Rostraver Road span will close, as it's slated to be jacked up to increase the clearance beneath it from 13 feet, 9 inches to 14 feet, 8 inches. Overnight rolling stoppages are planned that week on the section of I-70 it crosses, as well as intermittent lane restrictions through early June.
Beaumariage said the Rostraver Road bridge eventually may be considered for replacement as part of a revamp of the interchange there.
"We are looking to get a federal project to do a study of what this interchange will look like," he said. "It's such a big interchange. This study will allow us to understand what we need to program for the future."
Route 119
Work is expected to wrap up by September on reconstruction of the Route 119 corridor in Youngwood. Southbound traffic on Fourth Street is reduced to using the right lane as crews work on the left lane.
Crews are continuing with the initial 4.5-mile section of the Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project, which will realign segments of the Route 981 corridor between Route 819 and Norvelt in Mt. Pleasant Township.
Beaumariage said construction should be completed this year on a roundabout at the Route 819 intersection and will begin on others in Norvelt and at Hecla Road. The entire section through Norvelt is set to be finished by September 2024.
Route 356
PennDOT expects to complete work by November on nearly $16 million in safety improvements along Route 356 in Allegheny Township. Work will include reconstructing portions of the route and building a box culvert on a Kiski River tributary near the Garvers Ferry Road intersection, which will be realigned.
Route 356 will be closed into the fall between Leechburg and White Cloud roads, with detours in place.
Crews also will replace a Route 356 bridge over Pine Run with a precast culvert near the intersection of Melwood and Hyde Park roads in Allegheny Township. As part of a nearly $7.8 million project, the contractor also will realign approaches to the intersection of Route 356 and LaBelle Vue Road, which will be changed from a T-intersection to a roundabout.
Some slides along LaBelle Vue will be repaired.
Other locations
District 12 has budgeted more than $3.5 million to repair slides on six additional roads, including Coal Hollow Road in Rostraver.
PennDOT has yet to award a contract for resurfacing an 8.2-mile stretch of Route 136 between Herminie-West Newton Road and Mohawk Drive, passing through Sewickley and Hempfield townships and Madison and Arona.
The project has an estimated cost of between $7 million and $9 million and is slated for completion by October, with traffic reduced to a single lane controlled by flaggers, as needed. Beaumariage said a high friction surface treatment consisting of an epoxy material and flint stone will be applied to select areas of Route 136.
"We found that this helps for safety on intersections with a history of crashes and curves that we may not be able to reconstruct because we're confined by rights of way or geology," he said.
PennDOT hopes in December to seek contract bids for an offline replacement of the 1906 Salina Bridge that carries Bridge Street over the Kiski River and the Norfolk Southern Railroad in Bell Township. The project has an estimated cost of between $30 million and $35 million.
Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .
