Millions of dollars are being invested in the region’s roads and bridges in an effort to make “travel more convenient, efficient and safe,” Gov. Tom Wolf says.
Projects include a $3 million bridge replacement on Dorothy Lane in Bradford Township, and a $1.8 million safety improvement project in Elk County at the intersection of routes 66 and 948. The Dorothy Lane project is in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
Dean Ball, project manager with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, explained that when the Dorothy Lane project is completed, the portion of the road between West Washington and West Corydon streets will be turned over to Bradford Township.
From there, Bradford Township will turn that portion of the road over to Pitt-Bradford, supervisor chairman Jim Erwin confirmed Wednesday night.
“There will be no restrictions on it,” Erwin said.
Pitt-Bradford officials had wanted “to keep it local traffic only, but we made it part of the condition of turning it over that it be open to all traffic.”
He said supervisor Gayle Bauer has been spearheading the project, and working with Pitt-Bradford on it from the beginning.
Erwin explained the university wants to make some improvements to the road, including medians and sidewalks. “It’s going to be a nice addition to Pitt when it’s done.”
Explaining the background of project, Ball said Pitt-Bradford officials “were involved in the design. They have a lot of their own utilities there. We don’t want to do in there and put money into it and have it torn up later.”
Ball said, “We’re going to reconstruct the road from West Washington Street to the bridge. We’re going to place new drainage. The upper section will be curbed. We’ll update the crossings — there’s three crossings there. Those will be inlaid crossings, stamped and stained asphalt material, stamped to look like bricks to help it stand out.”
One crosswalk will be near the West Washington Street end, by the Hangar building along Dorothy Lane, one will be near the intersection with Campus Drive and a third will be at the McDowell Trail.
The bridge will be replaced, Ball explained, and the road from the bridge to West Corydon Street will be paved, overlaying the existing blacktop.
The work in Elk County will be largely for safety’s sake, as the intersection of routes 66 and 948 is often the site of crashes.
The intersection will be realigned to form a “T,” according to PennDOT. Other work includes erosion control, tree cutting, and pavement widening to install turn lanes on Route 66.
The project includes a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.
Other work planned during the 2017 construction season includes a $1.6 million bridge replacement in Cameron County on Route 155 at Cowley Run; a $4.8 million project in downtown Coudersport for the U.S. Route 6 betterment project; and the Route 44 highway restoration project from Coneville to Shinglehouse in Potter County, including the preservation of three structures at an estimated cost of $10.5 million.
