“Gap Bottleneck Project” Starting New Phase, With New Traffic Pattern, This Week

Work on the “Gap Bottleneck Project” is beginning to pick up, with a new traffic pattern established this week in the project area in eastern Lancaster County.

The new work is another step in the overall $9.9 million project that’s set for completion in October 2016.

For now, the new pattern is in place during overnight hours in the area of the Route 30/Route 41 project, the state Transportation Department announced.

A concrete barrier is being installed along the north side of Route 30 just east of the intersection with 41.

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/gap-bottleneck-project-starting-new-phase-with-new-traffic-pattern/article_1f89be2e-f9cb-11e4-86d9-f390befce9c3.html

Roadwork Planned On Routes 100, 422

Drivers relying on Route 100 or 422 to get around next week should plan some extra time for their commute.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Route 100 North will be reduced to one lane between Worthington Road and Route 113 in Uwchlan from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 13-17. The lane closure is due to road widening in the area and is part of a $17.4 million project to add a lane to the highway in each direction.

PennDOT said slowdowns will occur when traffic is restricted to one lane during construction. The contractor’s schedule is weather dependent.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141010/roadwork-planned-on-route-100-422

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

$155M Approved To Link I-95 And Pennsylvania Turnpike

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The long-awaited, $420 million direct connection between I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike moved closer to reality Thursday, with the approval of a $155 million section of the work.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, which oversees federal and state funding for transportation projects in the Philadelphia region, agreed to separate the $155 million project to allow work to start in June.

The $155 million will pay for widening and reconstructing about four miles of the turnpike in Bristol Township where the connection with I-95 will be built. It will also pay for building three new turnpike bridges and installing the piers for the “flyover” ramps for the connection.

When the first stage of the direct connection is completed in 2018, I-95 will be rerouted onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike east of the connection and then onto the New Jersey Turnpike. The current I-95 north of the connection will be redesignated as I-195.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20140124__155M_approved_to_link_I-95_and_Pa__Turnpike.html#IaGkJCmaqMOSQbBg.99

Price Tag For Fixing I-83 Congestion Is Out Of Reach

Locator map of the Harrisburg metro area in the south central part of the of . Red denotes the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, and yellow denotes the Lebanon Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon CSA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’re jumping onto Interstate 83 North using the New Cumberland ramp, just south of the 83 split, there’s a secret to surviving the experience.

For the uninitiated, the ramp starts at a stoplight and heads up a small hill, blindly leading drivers onto a congested, two-lane highway.  The merge zone can be measured in hands, not feet.

The key is to hammer the accelerator heading up the ramp, and whisper a silent prayer that a gold Buick isn’t stopped at the top.

If you time it right, you’ll hit highway speeds about the same time as you hit the road, which, if everything goes according to plan, allows you to slip into traffic between two tractor-trailers.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/08/i-83_york_split_eisenhower_int.html#incart_flyout_news

Major Road Projects In The Region

US 422 west near Pottstown. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note: To see the complete list of projects for the Delaware Valley, click on the link below!

Montgomery County

Markley Street: Work began in February in Norristown on the first of two construction contracts to improve Markley Street from Main Street to Johnson Highway in Norristown. The initial $20.8 million project will rebuild and improve 1.1 miles of Markley Street between Elm Street and Johnson Highway, and a half-mile stretch of Johnson Highway between Markley and DeKalb Streets. Work is to end in fall 2016.

U.S. 422/Route 363: Work will start in August or September to complete the interchange of U.S. 422 and Route 363 (Trooper Road) in West Norriton and Lower Providence.

Montgomery and Chester

U.S. 422. A $73.3 million project to rebuild 1.6 miles of U.S. 422 from about a mile east of the Armand Hammer Blvd. interchange to the Route 724 interchange in Lower Pottsgrove and North Coventry Townships. Construction started in fall 2012 and is to last five years, involving new bridges and pavement.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20130415_Major_Road_Projects_in_the_Region.html#ixzz2QYIJbQQX 
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Cumru Township Stretch Of Route 724 To Reopen Friday

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)

Thousands of daily commuters who were used to traveling on Route 724 in Cumru Township are getting an early Christmas present.

The 1.5-mile stretch between Route 10 and Interstate 176 is set to reopen Friday afternoon.  It has been closed since August so the Reading Area Water Authority could install a water main.

“The paving’s pretty much done and everything’s been tested,” said Alan Wong, construction manager.

Crews are adding finishing touches, like line painting, and PennDOT needs to inspect the stretch, he said.  Another layer of asphalt will be added in spring, but that won’t delay the reopening.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/Article.aspx?id=437832

New Route 202 Parkway Opens Today

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

A ribbon-cutting ceremony this afternoon will open a new 8.4-mile parkway stretch of Route 202 in Montgomery and Bucks Counties.

The long-planned parkway runs from Welsh Road (Route 63) in Montgomery Township through Warrington to Route 611 in Doylestown.

It’s the first major new road in Southeastern Pennsylvania since the early 1990s, when the Exton Bypass, the Blue Route and the Vine Street Expressway opened, according to PennDOT spokesman Eugene Blaum.

The $200 million project is just part of efforts to upgrade and improve Route 202, which runs from Delaware to New Jersey, he said. A widening project is already underway in Chester County, and another is planned for the Norristown, Montgomery County, area.

Read more:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20121203_New_Route_202_parkway_opens_today.html

Route 422 Lane Closures Start Sunday

Westbound U.S. Route 422 at the exit for Stowe, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

KING OF PRUSSIA — PennDOT has announced nighttime lane closures on Route 422 beginning Sunday and lasting through Dec. 21.

Between the Sanatoga and Route 724 interchanges in Lower Pottsgrove and North Coventry, crews will be working Sunday through Friday from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., causing the right westbound lane to close, Dec. 2 through 21.

A lane will be closed on the eastbound side in the same stretch between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m., Monday through Friday nights, Dec. 3 through 21.

The right lane of the westbound side will be closed between the Stowe and Route 100 interchanges in North Coventry Dec. 2 through 21 from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. with crews working Sunday through Friday.

Read more:

http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121201/NEWS01/121139931/route-422-lane-closures-start-sunday-#full_story