Motorists making their way across the Tuna Valley next week
could find the going a little tougher, as two access points near
the U.S. Route 219 Bradford Bypass project will be closed to
traffic.
On Thursday, officials with the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation said the southbound off-ramp at Forman Street will
be closed, starting Monday. Meanwhile, Mill Street – one of the
major roads across the valley from Jackson Avenue to East Main
Street – is ticketed for closure on April 27 near the Route 219
bridge.
The Forman Street exit will be closed until further notice,
while Mill Street will be open when possible.
According to PennDOT Inspector in Charge for the project Brian
Brocius, the Forman Street off-ramp closure is similar to what
occurred during last year’s construction season. Meanwhile, Brocius
said Mill Street “will have to be shut down at times, but the
contractor will make every attempt to open it for the public when
possible.”
The main contractor for the two-year, $55 million project is
Mascaro Construction Co. of Pittsburgh.
When Mill Street is closed to traffic, officials said motorists
will need to follow the signed detour route, which usually directs
traffic onto Jackson Avenue and along East Main Street. At Forman
Street, traffic can access downtown Bradford by following the Route
346 West detour.
“Crews will try and leave it (Mill Street) open unless they need
to do something on the roadway, such as when they are tearing down
the bridge,” Brocius said, adding crews will begin pouring the deck
for the bridge next week. It will be a handful of weeks before
anything will be allowed back on the surface.
That bridge is key, not only for its length – it’s the longest
bridge on the bypass – but is also near the point where traffic
will begin a “weave pattern” during the summer. As part of the
traffic switch, the northbound and southbound traffic will be
transferred onto the new southbound lanes, which are currently
being worked on.
The new 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.
PennDOT officials had previously indicated that Mill Street
would likely be closed to traffic during the height of the
construction season.
Brocius said the recent inclement weather has helped to keep
crews behind schedule on the overall project, and will likely push
the start of the weave pattern back a few weeks. As it stands, the
configuration is slated to go in effect by mid-May; that could now
be pushed back into June.
“We’ve lost a couple of weeks because of the weather,” Brocius
said.
The project fell behind last year at the start of the
construction season as well, due to winter hanging on across the
region. It appears the contractor has never been able to catch up
because of that.
In addition to the work above, PennDOT officials said excavation
work will continue on the southbound lanes and ramps on the bypass,
along with storm drainage installation in those locations. Work
will also continue on the bypass bridge over Bolivar Run.
Motorists might also run into some minor delays on Kendall
Avenue near the bypass bridge, where crews will be placing rebar on
the southbound bridge deck. Flaggers will be in place to direct
traffic, as required.
Brocius said crews at the southern end of the project, near
Owens Way, have taken out some of the old paving that was used to
hold traffic while the new lanes were being worked on.
“The bulk of the paving that came out was the old roadway,”
Brocius said, adding temporary paving was previously done beside
that to let cars travel on it.
Officials said the following ramps will remain closed next week:
all southbound on-and off-ramps at Kendall and Seaward avenues.
Detour signs will be in place for all ramp closures.
Meanwhile, 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 in this configuration until further notice.
