The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has 109 projects anticipated to start or continue this year in the nine-county region of PennDOT Engineering District 3.
PennDOT District 3-0 officials on March 1 hosted its annual editorial board meeting where they discussed several major projects in the distrifct, including those in Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties. The $275.5 million investment includes rehabilitating, reconstructing, and resurfacing 162 miles of highways and working on 31 bridge projects across the nine counties.
“A well-maintained, sustainable transportation system is a key component of the economic vitality of the state,” said District 3 Executive Eric High. “Investment in our transportation system is an investment in our future.”
High said inflation and increasing construction materials have affected projects by 10 to 50 percent but the amount of projects have not been reduced.
“We are seeing relatively large inflationary impacts for all of us whether we’re buying things at the grocery store or constructing roads and bridges,” said High. “If we go back a year or more, we’re talking anywhere from 10 to 50 percent increases in terms of inflationary costs. Certainly, they are having an effect on project costs.”
High said the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding has allowed PennDOT to maintain its planned program and advance a few additional projects.
Prior to the federal infrastructure act, High said PennDOT was in a “concerning state of being able to maintain the quality of our roads and bridges with the decreasing funding levels we were experiencing.”
Interstate 80 restoration
While the largest project in the district is by far the $938 million Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project, PennDOT has other projects.
One of the largest projects in the District is a $53 million road restoration project in Montour County. Interstate 80 will be restored between Route 3013 (Mexico Road) and Route 54 in Liberty and Valley Townships.
“This is a multi-year restoration project of 6.9 miles of Interstate 80,” said Justin Blakeney, assistant district executive of construction. “This includes five projects combined into one.
Work includes concrete patching, joint sealing, diamond grinding with bituminous overlay.”
Additional work includes shoulder reconstruction, bridge work, mill and overlay and an Intelligent Transportation System, which is a combination of leading-edge information and communication technologies used to improve the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of transportation networks and reduce traffic congestion, thus improving drivers’ experiences
“Traffic will be maintained for the majority of the project with two lanes in each direction using temporary bridges and roadways and one-lane crossovers,” said Blakeney. “There will be nightly lane closures and one-lane each direction for shoulder reconstruction and bridge work from Sunday to Friday.”
Work will begin in the spring and be completed in fall of 2026, said Blakeney.
Montour County will also see a $1.6 million milling and resurfacing project on Route 2008 between Cherry Street in Danville and Byrd Avenue in Mahoning Township. This project will start in the summer.
Other projects
PennDOT highlighted three projects in Northumberland County, three in Snyder County and two in Union County. They are as follows:
n A $2.9 million milling and resurfacing project on Route 11 between King Street and C Street in Northumberland, Route 61 (Front Street) between Church Street and the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge in Sunbury and Route 147 between the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge in Sunbury and Brush Valley Road in Upper Augusta Township. This project will start in the summer.
n A $2.2 million resurfacing and slope repairs of 2.2 miles on Route 54 between the Montour County line to Boyd Station in Riverside and Rush Township. The project will start in the spring.
n A $1.3 million bridge preservation and painting project of the Route 225 bridge over Mahanoy Creek in Little Mahanoy Township. The project will start in the spring.
n A $350,000 milling and resurfacing project on .6 miles of Route 104 between Dinius Avenue and Water Tower Road in Middleburg; and a $700,000 milling and resurfacing project on 1 mile of Route 522 between Willow Avenue and Swinehart Drive in Middleburg and Franklin Township.
n A $3.1 million bridge replacement on Route 104 over Mahantango Creek in Chapman Township. The project will start in the summer.
n A $1 million milling and resurfacing project of Route 522 between Willow Avenue and Swinehart Drive in Middleburg and Franklin Township as well as Route 104 between Dinius Avenue and Water Tower Road in Middleburg. This project will start in the summer.
n A $2.9 million milling and resurfacing project on Route 15, including removal of railroad tracks, and Route 1005 (Hospital Drive) between Route 15 and JPM Road in Kelly Township and Lewisburg. This project will start in the spring.
n A $3 million milling and resurfacing project with drainage and ADA improvements on Route 304 between Route 45 and Orchard Lane and 0.2 miles of Route 2004 (Maple Street) between Route 304 and Second Street in Mifflinburg Borough. This project will start in the spring.
CSVT updates
The $938 million Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project also continues this year.
While the 13-mile, four-lane limited access highway went from $900 million to an estimated $938 million due to inflation and rising construction costs, the project remains fully funded.
This is not the first time the cost has been adjusted.
It was originally estimated in 2015 to be $670 million but was raised to $865 million in 2019 and its completion date was pushed back three years to 2027. It was adjusted again last year to $900 million.
The new estimated cost of $938 million consists of $385 million in federal funding and $553 million in state funding. An additional $69 million announced in December comes from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The final parts of the northern section, including the $156 million bridge over the Susquehanna River, will be completed in the spring.
While the northern section is open to traffic, the nine overhead sign structures still need to be installed over two months in early 2023 between Winfield and Montandon.
Traffic counts in October 2022 showed that the new river bridge is carrying roughly 12,000 vehicles, including 3,100 trucks, per day.
PennDOT estimates that Route 15 total traffic and truck traffic is down 30 percent, Route 45 total traffic is down 10 percent while truck traffic is down 20 percent and Route 405 total is down 40 percent and truck traffic is down 75 percent.
In June, Trumbull Corporation, of Pittsburgh, was awarded the first contract of three for the southern section at a low bid of $115.2 million.
This contract is for 5 million cubic yards earthwork for the roughly six miles of new four-lane, limited access highway in Shamokin Dam and Monroe Township. Noise walls, as well as nine new bridges, will be included in the second contract for the southern section. The third construction contract is for highway paving.
Ted Deptula, the assistant construction engineer for PennDOT District 3-0, said bids for the second contract will be opened in late 2023. Bids for the third contract will be opened in 2025 or 2026.
The highway is expected to open in 2027, said Deptula.