The long-anticipated U.S. Route 219 Bradford Bypass construction
project is slated to begin today, weather permitting.

Work – which will include the removal of guiderails and
right-of-way fences and excavation for the temporary widening of
the roadway – will take place in the northbound lane only. Until
further notice, the two-lane highway in the northbound direction
will be turned into a single lane for traffic.

Traffic will be restricted to the one lane from approximately
the Owens Way exit to just north of the Kendall Avenue exit.

The multi-million dollar work represents the start of more than
two years’ worth of major work on the bypass, which will be
completed around Nov. 10, 2007.

The work – which comes at a total price tag of $55,432,529.65 –
will be done by Mascaro Construction Co. of Pittsburgh and be
overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The project will be done in two phases, during which the bypass
will be completely restored and a handful of bridges along the
6.93-mile corridor will be replaced. As part of the work, the
existing concrete pavement will be removed from the surface of the
highway and be replaced with bituminous material.

To monitor the progress of the road work and check any changes
to the traffic patterns, motorists can visit the PennDOT Web site
and click on the statewide construction map to get updates
concerning ongoing projects.

Also, citizens who want to report road concerns can contact
PennDOT maintenance at 1-800-FIX-ROAD (1-800-349-7623) to report
concerns.

Numerous traffic signs and pieces of heavy equipment can already
be seen dotting the landscape near the Owens Way intersection and
along the bypass.