The demolition of the U.S. Route 219 Bradford Bypass bridge over
Forman Street will begin on Tuesday, according to officials with
the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Work will take place in the southbound lanes, and traffic delays
of up to 15 minutes for the demolition and debris clean-up may
occur. Officials said flaggers will be in place to control traffic
and motorists are being encouraged to use alternate routes to avoid
delays.

The project is part of the larger $55.4 million, two-year bypass
work being done by Mascaro Construction Co. of Pittsburgh. The
bridge projects go along with the major switch in traffic from the
southbound lanes of the bypass to the northbound lanes; the
southbound lanes are being completed first because they were found
to be in worse condition.

Similar to Main Street – where that bridge project will continue
on Tuesday along with sanitary sewer line work – the Forman Street
bridge is located near the central business district, including a
plaza featuring restaurants, a video store and a supermarket, Union
Square, Micale Construction and an entrance to Hilton Street, where
some of the city’s manufacturing sector is located.

In the past, officials have expressed some concern over the
volume of traffic that could spill over onto the side streets
during the work downtown, especially during the work week.

Motorists looking to navigate their way across the Tuna Valley
will experience construction crews in virtually every direction;
Mill Street is closed until further notice and crews have also been
working on Kendall Avenue.

Further down the bypass on Main Street, officials said while
work is ongoing, Main Street will be closed in the vicinity of the
bridge during working hours; officials said crews will be manning
the site between roughly 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and the street will be
re-opened at the end of each workday.

The bridge work is being performed by Bob Cummins Construction
Co. of Bradford and will involve the demolition of six bridges –
following Main Street, Forman Street will be next. The company will
then continue along the bypass to Elm Street, where work will
likely get under way on June 5, before moving to Mill Street,
Kendall Avenue and Bolivar Creek.

Officials said the sanitary sewer line work on Main Street was
supposed to take place before the demolition of the bridge, but it
was discovered the line was actually 10 feet deeper than expected,
postponing the project until next week.

During the Main Street project, a short-term detour will remain
in effect, and traffic should follow the detour route.

At Mill Street, crews there will continue to relocate utilities
and work will continue on a temporary pier at the bridge.

Officials said drainage work will also begin next week within
the project area on the old southbound lanes.

Meanwhile, PennDOT officials said the following ramps will be
closed during the work next week: southbound off-ramp at Forman
Street; and all southbound on and off-ramps at Kendall-Seaward
avenues. The following ramps will remain open: all northbound and
southbound ramps at Owens Way; northbound off-ramp at Elm Street;
southbound on-ramp at Elm Street; northbound on-ramp at Forman
Street; northbound on and off-ramps at Kendall Avenue; and all
ramps at Bolivar Drive.

Traffic will be using that configuration until further notice,
according to officials. Detour signs will be in place to direct
traffic around the construction area.

Crews will not be working on Memorial Day and all the work is
dependent on the weather.