Area motorists will find the going a little tougher this summer
near North Kendall Avenue, which will resurface as part of the
ongoing U.S. Route 219 Bradford Bypass project.

Meanwhile, officials said work on the southbound lanes of the
bypass – which was carried over from last year and will begin again
shortly – will likely be completed by mid-June before the
rehabilitation of the northbound lanes and related bridges
begins.

Local officials were briefed by representatives from the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on this year’s activity
on the bypass during a meeting Wednesday at the American Refining
Group.

The $55 million rehabilitation of the bypass has been ongoing in
various stages for about a year and is being completed by Mascaro
Construction Co. of Pittsburgh.

“We would like to have the majority of the work on the bypass
done by the end of this year,” PennDOT’s Inspector in Charge for
the project Brian Brocius said. “The work will likely be entirely
completed by the spring of 2008. Everything really depends on the
weather.”

Brocius said crews could be back in the area next spring to
finish up miscellaneous work, including seeding and the placement
of light fixtures, among other items.

The bulk of Wednesday’s meeting, however, centered on the
impending construction on North Kendall Avenue, which is situated
near ARG’s main offices and entrance to the refinery. A number of
businesses and homes are also located in that area.

According to Brocius, a couple months of construction time has
been allotted for each lane of the road, which actually widens out
to almost three lanes near the refinery.

Brocius said work on the lane nearest the ARG main offices – on
the right-hand side if one looks down the street from the East Main
Street intersection – is slated to be done between mid-June and
late July. The other lane, on the refinery side, would roughly
begin in August and finish in mid-September. There will be one lane
open for traffic during that time period.

Officials said the surface of the road will be a mixture of
blacktop and concrete, with the blacktop being put down from East
Main Street to the railroad tracks on the upper portion of the
thoroughfare, while the portion from the railroad tracks to the
bypass bridge will be concrete. Lastly, the section from the bypass
bridge to Seaward Avenue will remain the same, with some
rehabilitation work done.

Brocius said the concrete surface, which wears better under the
pressure of heavy truck traffic, will be put down near the
refinery.

“The concrete is the better surface for the life of the
pavement,” Brocius said.

PennDOT officials said the resurfacing work will include new
drainage, curbs and sidewalks; however, the deck of the bridge over
the Tunungwant Creek will remain in place.

The work plan has caused some concern for businesses located in
that area, including ARG.

Refinery officials in attendance were worried about the ability
for truck traffic to enter the facility, noting rigs arriving at
the refinery stage near the company’s main offices before
proceeding across North Kendall and into the refinery.

“Eventually you would need to close that portion of the street
down,” ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Harvey Golubock
said, referring to the time crews are placing the new concrete
pavement down.

PennDOT officials said it usually takes about 3 to 5 days to
cure the pavement, adding some traffic flow will be maintained
throughout the construction zone while work progresses.

In response, ARG officials requested PennDOT officials discuss
the project further with them and decide on a method to allow the
trucks to access the refinery. Both sides also agreed to be in
constant contact with each other over the traffic in that area.

Meanwhile, Dale Phillips, who owns a car dealership along North
Kendall, and whose wife has three businesses there, was also
concerned about customer access.

In response, PennDOT officials said there will be some delays in
traffic flow, but the street won’t be shut down completely.

Traffic patterns will also change on the bypass, PennDOT
officials said.

While work in the southbound lanes should be completed by the
middle of June, motorists will notice a “weave pattern” in place by
mid-May, where the northbound and southbound traffic will be
transferred over onto the new southbound lanes, according to
Brocius.

The new traffic configuration will begin just south of Mill
Street. North of that point, traffic will remain in the same
pattern in both the northbound and southbound lanes.

When the southbound lanes are finished in June, the remainder of
the traffic will be brought back onto the southbound lanes.

Officials also said Mill Street will likely be closed again
throughout the course of the project, starting in the next few
weeks.

Looking into the future, PennDOT Portfolio Manager Thomas Zurat
said the last phase of the project – from the Bolivar Drive
interchange to the New York state border – will likely take place
during the 2009-2010 construction season.

The project, which will entail resurfacing both the northbound
and southbound lanes, along with work at the interchange, is slated
to go out for bid in late 2008.

Zurat said that segment of the project has been delayed, in
part, because of a disruption in the funding stream for the
work.

The remainder of the current project is fully funded, PennDOT
officials said.