Officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation are
forming a strategy to cope with the winter months on the congested
U.S. Route 219 Bradford bypass.

The thick concrete Jersey barriers, which line the bypass and
squeeze traffic into single lanes, will likely remain in place over
the winter, causing some concern over plowing and the potential for
accidents in such tight quarters.

PennDOT officials, along with members of the state police and
other agencies, will gather on Thursday to discuss the upcoming
season and what needs to be done to ensure safety on the
roadway.

“The potential for McKean County to experience heavy snowfall is
a concern,” PennDOT’s Community Relations Coordinator Marla Fannin
said Thursday. “Every project is different and we have to look at
how it’s shaping up. We are working with the contractor and will do
anything we can to ease traffic through there over the winter
months.”

Work on the two-year, $55.4 million project is being conducted
by Mascaro Construction Co. of Pittsburgh and has been ongoing
since April. Crews are behind schedule, in part, because of a delay
in getting started earlier this year due to weather problems.

“There are going to be some cattle shoots this winter,”
McKean-Elk Counties Maintenance Manager Patricia Shinaberger said,
adding there will likely be talk Thursday of exactly what the
traffic pattern will be on the bypass for the winter.

As it stands, crews are busy paving and scouring the southbound
lanes of the bypass; the lanes in that direction were deemed in
worse shape before the project began. Work is also being done on
the bridges and ramps leading to the highway, causing some traffic
congestion as cross roads into the city have been cut off to
traffic at times.

Thus far, there have been no serious accidents on the bypass as
the work has been ongoing.

While that might be the case, Lt. Carl Milks, acting chief for
the Bradford City Police, said his department “is already
anticipating problems.”

“It’s such a narrow roadway,” Milks said. “There is really
nowhere to go and with slippery conditions, I’m afraid we’ll have
some problems with people bouncing off those walls like
pinballs.”

Milks said it’s up to the city or state police to shut down the
highway during winter storms, adding “if it becomes a hazard to the
public for travel, we don’t have a problem with shutting it down.
We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again. First and foremost
public safety is our concern up there.”

Brian Brosius, PennDOT’s inspector in charge for the bypass
project, said while some amount of Jersey barriers will remain in
place, he couldn’t say exactly how many that would be.

“It really depends on the weather in the next few weeks,”
Brosius said, “to see what we can accomplish.”

Brosius said among the barriers that will remain in place are
those over the bridges.

“Those have to remain in place on the outside of the bridges,”
Brosius said. “It’s just a sheer drop-off there. Obviously we have
to have something there to protect that opening and from having
people go over the edge.”

According to Brosius, the lanes on the highway through the
construction zone measure 12 feet wide; by comparison a
tractor-trailer measures about 8 feet across at its nose.

“There is a width restriction in effect,” Brosius said,
referring to oversized trucks. “We have to restrict it a little
narrower for the wider vehicles so they are not bumping the
barriers as they come through.”

In regards to handling the snow, officials said a snow blower
will likely be brought in to help keep the lanes clear. There has
also been talk of widening the lanes so traditional snow plows,
often with wide blades, can make their way through.

“I know we are actively trying to get a snow blower dedicated to
that project,” Fannin said, adding the county could use the
machinery for other occasions, too.

Reports had indicated the blower could be arriving from
Colorado, however, that could not be confirmed on Thursday.

Brosius said officials will be sitting down with the maintenance
forces to discuss the procedures for the bypass, adding PennDOT
officials drove through the area on Thursday and “looked at a few
things.”

Shinaberger said local maintenance crews are ready for the
winter, noting all the stockpiles of material are in place.

“All our trucks are ready and we’re pretty much ready to go,”
Shinaberger said. “(Route 219) is definitely going to impact
things. It will probably take more salt to do that.”

Milks said he urges motorists using the bypass over the winter
to use extreme caution and even avoid it if possible.