Bids for the long-anticipated U.S. Route 219 Bradford Bypass
project are slated to be opened Thursday.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Project
Manager Tom Zurat of the Clearfield office said, barring any
unforeseen changes, the agency will open bids for the work – which
will start next spring and span two years.
As part of the multimillion dollar project, officials said the
bypass will be completely restored and a handful of bridges along
the 6.93-mile corridor will be replaced. The first phase of the
work will last throughout the 2006 construction season, with the
second phase being completed in 2007.
Zurat said as part of the work, the existing concrete pavement
will be removed from the surface of the highway and be replaced
with bituminous material.
While the work is ongoing, Zurat said the southbound lanes will
be completed first, adding a previous inspection of the bridges on
that portion of the highway indicate they are in worse shape than
those in the northbound lanes. The highway’s ramps leading onto the
expressway will also be replaced at that time.
The southbound lanes head from the New York state line towards
Owens Way and South Avenue.
“We are going to put all the traffic on both northbound lanes
and use concrete barriers as separators,” Zurat said, adding
similar steps are taken on projects along Interstate 80.
Zurat said after the southbound lanes are completed, work will
begin on the northbound lanes in 2007, with traffic being shifted
to the newly completed southbound lanes.
Along with the ongoing work, Zurat said numerous detours will be
set up to direct traffic around the construction. To help deal with
some of the confusion that will invariably surround such a large
project, Zurat said PennDOT plans on putting out numerous press
releases that will signify where the different detours and closures
are located.
In regards to bidding on the project, Zurat said the agency’s
engineering and contract management system has shown interest from
a dozen firms, some of which could just be interested in being
subcontractors on the project.
According to Zurat, once the bids are opened and an apparent low
bidder named, PennDOT still has to check and make sure the
contractor is qualified for the work and its bonding is
correct.
“There are legal requirements to be met before the contract is
officially rewarded,” Zurat said. “From the opening of bids to the
notice to proceed, usually takes anywhere in the neighborhood of
six to eight weeks.”
Zurat indicated the early stages of the project will likely get
under way during the first part of March.
The project was originally supposed to be bid out in October,
but was pushed back.
The first phase of the project comes with a price tag of $44
million, including $2 million in federal funding. The second phase
will cost $37 million.
In September 2004, the bypass had $99,000 in repairs, including
pot hole patching and paving of sections of roadway. The work was
intended to keep the highway in the best possible condition until
the larger rehabilitation project begins.
The project is part of the state’s Twelve Year Transportation
Program.
On a larger scale, the project’s development goes hand-in-hand
with local officials’ desire to establish Continental 1, an
international four-lane highway from Canada to Florida. Across the
border in New York, a 6.8-mile portion of Route 219 from
Springville (N.Y.) south to Ashford Hollow is also slated for
construction next year as part of the Continental 1 project.
Also set to begin next year is the $35 million Route 219
Johnsonburg bypass, which will be done in two phases. The project
will be coupled with the Osterhout Street project in Ridgway, which
will bypass trucks around the borough’s downtown.
Officials said the two projects will help to significantly
relieve congestion from truck traffic and improve safety along that
stretch of the highway.
