Thaddeus Stevens Bridge Opens To Traffic

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“I was hoping the bridge would be open,” Robert Haehnle said. “I didn’t think I’d be the first car.”

But Haehnle happened to time it just right. He was the first motorist to cross the new Lititz Pike bridge — officially, the Thaddeus Stevens Bridge — when PennDOT opened it to southbound traffic about noon Wednesday.

Haehnle, a retired civil and environmental engineer who lives with his wife in Brethren Village, said he was on his way to Water Street Mission to have lunch with a man he mentors there.

He goes into Lancaster fairly regularly, so the construction has been a bother, he said. The congestion led to his being hit in a fender-bender about a month and a half ago.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/thaddeus-stevens-bridge-opens-to-traffic/article_44a4ab50-07c4-11e4-8c42-0017a43b2370.html

Lititz Pike Bridge Opening Next Week

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The good news:  The long-awaited new Lititz Pike bridge will open Wednesday, weather permitting.

The bad news:  The one-lane travel restrictions will simply be switched from the old bridge to the new span.

The single-lane travel will allow for the reconstruction of Lititz Pike’s intersection with Keller and Marshall avenues, project construction manager Mike Sisson said.

The new bridge is not expected to open to its full capacity until late October, after the old bridge is removed, Sisson said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lititz-pike-bridge-opening-next-week/article_bab5a084-0246-11e4-9c0f-0017a43b2370.html

Golden Triangle Triage: 5 PennDOT Options For Easing Traffic And Improving Safety At Manheim Township Intersection

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Think the intersection at Golden Triangle is a mess?

If so, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation agrees.

PennDOT hired an engineering firm to figure out how to improve the intersection at Lititz and Oregon pikes, Fordney Road and the Golden Triangle shopping center.

The state is prepared to spend between $300,000 and $1 million on construction, signals, signs and restriping of lanes to make traffic flow more smoothly and safely through the intersection.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/911475_Golden-Triangle-triage–5-PennDOT-options-for-easing-traffic-and-improving-safety-at-Manheim-Township-intersection.html#ixzz2j8sqjmCv

Congested Commutes In Harrisburg, York, Lancaster? National Group Ranks Them

Sitting in traffic is not unusual for commuters in the Harrisburg, York and Lancaster areas.  The stop-and-go of the rush hour wears on cars, nerves and wallets.

TRIP, a Washington, D.C., based national transportation organization, has pinpointed 14 corridors costing area commuters a total of $472 million each year or about $2,000 annually per driver depending on which route they take.

The report released Thursday points to these trouble zones for commuters:

1. Rohrerstown Road from Wabank Road to State Street in Lancaster.  On this corridor, the average rush hour driver spends 108 hours, 46 additional gallons of gas, and $1,995 annually or $38 weekly.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/06/national_group_pinpoints_worst.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Lititz Pike Detours Set To Begin May 29

750 mm by 600 mm (30 in by 24 in) Pennsylvania shield, made to the specifications of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), 2003 Edition (sign M1-5). Uses the Roadgeek 2005 fonts. (United States law does not permit the copyrighting of typeface designs, and the fonts are meant to be copies of a U.S. Government-produced work anyway.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lititz Pike motorists will soon be forced to learn some new tricks.

On Wednesday, May 29, PennDOT is implementing the first set of road closings and altered traffic patterns necessitated by construction of a new Route 501 bridge over the Amtrak and Norfolk Southern train tracks.

That means drivers who have been using Route 222/501 for years to enter and exit the city will encounter some major changes in their routine.

McGovern Avenue will be closed from the Lititz Pike to Queen Street.  Consequently, southbound drivers unable to make the right turn onto McGovern Avenue will continue straight, to a new intersection at Liberty Street.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/850759_Lititz-Pike-detours-set-to-begin-May-29.html#ixzz2TfDre4N0

Teeth Will Grind As Drivers Detour For Lititz Pike Bridge Work

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The good news is that PennDOT plans to keep the Lititz Pike bridge near the train station open while a new one is constructed next to it.

The bad news is that the road closures and detours necessary to complete the project will force drivers to make some difficult decisions in the year ahead to avoid snarled traffic.

The $12.7 million project involves constructing a bridge that will funnel Lititz Pike traffic directly onto Duke Street in the city.

The project is already under way, with the demolition of the Fulton Bank on Duke Street and the former Crouse used car lot across from the Stockyard Inn.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/818634_Teeth-will-grind-as-drivers-detour-for-Lititz-Pike-bridge-work.html#ixzz2LvQxR1l9