Major work planned next year on West Washington
A major roadwork project on part of West Washington Street in the City of Bradford is on tap for next year.
Parts of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project have been unveiled by the Bradford Sanitary and Water authorities as they learn what changes they will have to make.
It’s more than just a patching or paving project. What’s different this time around is the depth at which PennDOT will be working.
Steve Disney, executive director of both authorities, explained to The Era, “Both authorities have numerous buried assets.”
And meetings with PennDOT officials have shown plans include replacing the road base 36 inches below where it is currently, he said.
“BSA has sanitary manholes and main lines,” Disney said, “BCWA has numerous gate valves and a lot of water mains varying in size from 4 inches to 24 inches, most of which, it looks like, will need to be addressed through relocation/replacement to allow the road base to be replaced 36 inches below the current grade in many areas.
“All of our affected assets will need to be surveyed and engineered to be relocated/replaced,” he said.
While it will entail a significant amount of work for the authorities, they will have a lot of help with the cost. Disney said, “PennDOT has a reimbursement program, which will reimburse utilities in their Right-of-Way 75%, and the utility pays 25%.”
As for the stormwater system, Disney explained, “PennDOT is putting in all new stormwater infrastructure at their cost, 100%.”
On PennDOT’s website, it states that December is when officials expect the project to be let out for bids, February for a Notice to Proceed and November 2026 for a physical completion date.
The project is classified under “safety improvement,” and notes there are three traffic lights within project, which will span 0.99 miles.
The cost is listed under the PennDOT Transportation Improvement Program at $7.6 million.
The project includes the intersection of Mechanic and West Washington streets, and travels out West Washington Street to the city line.
PennDOT plans to have more details available next week.
