The construction work on the U.S. Route 219 Bradford bypass will
be suspended for the winter, effective Dec. 22, according to
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials.

Limited work may take place over the next week if the weather
permits, however. The project will likely resume at the start of
March.

Officials said the current traffic configuration – including the
Jersey barriers – will remain in place throughout the winter.

“The contractors (Mascaro Construction Co. of Pittsburgh) are
cleaning up on some work before the winter,” PennDOT’s Inspector in
Charge for the project Brian Brocius said on Thursday, referring to
any project taking place next week. “The weather is still nice and
they are doing whatever they can to wrap up before winter.”

Brocius said the principal activities crews are working on
include small concrete pours at various sites along the
construction zone, adding the work will not significantly impact
traffic.

“Even beyond the 22nd, they may still try and do a few things,”
Brocius said. “There will be somebody on site all winter for
maintenance protection for the traffic.”

According to Brocius, the maintenance protection will involve
replacing or “setting up” again the orange and white cones, or
“channel markers,” placed along the bypass traffic pattern which
help direct vehicles safely through the area. During the winter,
Brocius said the blades on the snow plows will often hit the cones,
knocking them over.

Meanwhile, Brocius said all the southbound on- and off-ramps at
Kendall and Seaward avenues will be closed for the remainder of the
winter, in part, because there is no viable road surface in place
at those locations.

“There is no paving material down anywhere along that stretch
(of highway),” Brocius said. “We did open the southbound Forman
Street ramp to allow people to get into downtown. We still have
more paving to do there, but we felt we could put traffic around
there over the winter.

“We tried to accommodate the town, but will still have to shut
it down (ramp) in the spring for a while to pave.”

Brocius also said the stop signs located at various spots along
the highway will remain in place, typically at the on-ramps leading
onto the bypass.

Officials said during the winter, a snow blower is slated to be
brought into the area to deal with the snow on the bypass and a
sixth driver and truck has been added to the South Avenue shed,
designed just for the bypass. The lanes between the Jersey barriers
were also expected to be expanded.

Bradford City Police said they will not hesitate to close the
bypass during the winter if inclement weather calls for it.

In regards to the overall progress of the project in the
southbound lanes, or Phase I, Brocius said “they are
progressing.”

“They are actually looking at revising their schedule over the
winter to get back on track,” Brocius said.

PennDOT officials have previously indicated they are working
with Mascaro after the firm fell behind schedule, in part, after
being unable to begin work on the bypass in the spring due to
inclement weather.

“We are working with the contractor to revise the schedule,”
PennDOT Community Relations Coordinator Marla Fannin said. “When we
roll back out in the spring, we’ll make a specific effort to detail
to the public how long the rest of the project will take.”

The “big ticket” items – the complete destruction and renovation
of a handful of bridges located in the southbound lanes – have for
the most part been completed, according to Brocius said, adding two
bridge decks need to be poured yet – Mill Street and Kendall
Avenue.

“The remainder of the bridge decks (the actual riding surface)
have been replaced,” Brocius said. “There is still some paving that
needs to be done from Mill Street to the north; about half of the
paving work (along the complete stretch of highway in the
southbound lanes) is completed.”

Mill Street was previously opened to traffic for the winter.

In regards to starting the project again, officials said the
first part of March is the target date, depending on the
weather.

“That far north, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it (start date)
was pushed back a little bit,” Fannin said. “If we get a mild
winter, they’ll (crews) want to be back out there as soon as
possible.”

Fannin said Phase II of the bypass project will be let out for
bid in December 2008, with actual construction taking place between
2009-2010. That phase, which will include work on the northbound
lanes, was pushed back a year due to funding issues. Phase I was
slated for two years.

Officials said the following ramps will remain closed during the
winter: all southbound on-and off-ramps at Kendall and Seaward
avenues. Detour signs will be in place for those closures. 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;
southbound off-ramp at Forman Street; northbound on-and off-ramps
at Kendall Avenue; and all ramps at Bolivar Drive.