​

Uniontown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today highlighted major projects among the 64 projects that will take place during the 2021 construction season in District 12, which includes Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties.

“I am pleased to announce a list of transportation projects for the southwest region that represent balancing the needs of the interstate, national highway, secondary, and local networks within our vital transportation system,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “It is through the continual efforts of our staff in the construction, design, and maintenance teams of PennDOT that we are able to preserve and improve so many of our roadways and bridges even during these challenging financial times.”

Overall, the 2021 construction season for District 12 will include five highway projects, 21 bridge replacements or rehabilitations, three safety improvements, and 37 projects on local roadways or bridges.

“The southwest region has several major projects starting or wrapping up this year, several of those projects are located on Interstate 70,” said William Kovach, P.E., District 12 Executive.  “Upgrading I-70 in Washington and Westmoreland counties provides major improvements to our transportation system.”

Among those are two multi-year projects on I-70 in Westmoreland County: • Interstate 70 and SR31 Project – Reconstruction at the I-70 Exit 51A/51B at Route 31 in South Huntingdon Township interchange. The project includes the replacement of bridges carrying Route 31 over I-70. Anticipated completion in 2021 for $66.8 million. • Interstate 70 Yukon-Madison Project – This project is for the reconstruction and widening of I-70, full reconstruction of the Yukon (Exit 53) and Madison (Exit 54) interchange, replacement of four mainline I-70 structures, one mainline culvert, a proposed culvert at the Yukon Eastbound on and off ramps and maintenance of a structure on Route 3010. Additionally, the project will include new interchange signing including overhead sign structures, and highway lighting at Madison Interchange. Anticipated completion in 2022 for $92.8 million.

The department looks for opportunities to improve safety on our roadways. “Traffic safety is very important to us at PennDOT,” said Kovach. “Our goal is to reduce crashes and injuries through safety improvement projects.”

Two notable examples of those efforts include: • Safety improvements on a section of Route 21 in German, Monongahela, South Union townships and Masontown Borough, $2.4 million. • Safety improvements such as realigning several intersections, milling and pavement overlays, storm water maintenance, and replacing four culvert boxes on Route 356 from White Cloud Road to north of the Route 56 Intersection in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, $15.9 million.

There are 10 projects scheduled for Fayette County, including: • Emergency slide repair on Route 201 (Gillespie Road) located in Washington Township, $797,837. • Replacement/rehabilitation of two bridges carrying traffic on Route 1051 (Breakneck Road) over Butler Run and Spruce Run, $400,000.

There are eight projects scheduled for Greene County, including: • Improvements on the bridge carrying Route 3016 (McCracken Road) over Mudlick Fork in Allepo Township, Greene County. Anticipated completion in September 2021 for $1.7 million. • Bridge replacement/rehabilitation of the structure carrying Route 4006 (Maranda Run Road) over a branch of Maranda Run in Center Township, Greene County, estimated $400,000. • Replacement of the structure carrying Route 4005 (Poland Run Road) over Polen Run in Richhill Township, Greene County, estimated $400,000.

There are 20 projects scheduled for Washington County, including: • Route 18 signal upgrades in the City of Washington, including I-70 on/off ramps, consisting of two new traffic signals at Route 18 (Jefferson Avenue)/Route 8014 (I-70 eastbound exit/entrance ramps), and Route 4022 (Wylie Avenue)/Route 8014 (I-70 westbound entrance/exit ramps) and the replacement of additional traffic signals. Several intersections will be improved and include right-hand turning lanes and other miscellaneous construction including new sidewalks and ADA ramp installations.  Anticipated completion in September 2022 for $10.3 million. • Restoration of Route 1009 (Pike Street) over Chartiers Creek in Houston Borough, Washington County, anticipated completion in September 2021 for $2.5 million.

There are 26 projects scheduled for Westmoreland County, including: • Reconstructing Route 119 in Hempfield Township, New Stanton, and Youngwood Borough between Burton Avenue and Stouts Carpet. The project will include adding chicanes (slight curves in the road) which forces traffic from right to left and back serving as traffic calming to slow down traffic. Sidewalks will also be built along both sides of the northbound and southbound route. Anticipated completion in September 2023 for $24.1 million. •  Replacing nine existing traffic signals and upgrading an additional traffic signal at nine intersections along Route 981 and Ligonier Streets in the City of Latrobe, Westmoreland County. Anticipated completion in August 2021 for $3.4 million. • The Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project will upgrade the Route 981 corridor from the intersection with Route 819 in Mount Pleasant Township to the intersection with U.S. 30 in Unity Township, Westmoreland County. The Section Q20, Route 819 to Norvelt project is scheduled to be put out for bid in June 2021. This section primarily follows Route 981 with some offline shifts to improve the roadway. Traffic and safety data figured heavily in determining the preferred intersection treatments, which will include three roundabouts.

Work on these project is being done in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health guidance as well as a project-specific COVID-19 safety plan, which will include protocols for social distancing, use of face coverings, personal and job-site cleaning protocols, management of entries to the jobsite, and relevant training.

A list of projects is available online through the www.penndot.gov/District12/ConstructionsProjectsAndRoadwork, which can be found under the District Links heading on District 12 website, www.penndot.gov/District12.

In addition to the many construction projects in District 12, our county maintenance crews working out of 30 stockpiles located in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties will be performing a variety of maintenance activities. These scheduled activities will include sealcoating 483 miles of roadway, paving 67 miles of roadway, cleaning and flushing of 29,655 feet of drains, shoulder cutting of 1,321 miles of roadway, the replacement or rehabilitation of 12 bridges. Additionally, crews will be replacing and updating signs, mowing, slide repairs, pipe replacements and litter pickup.

As construction projects are underway in the region, the traveling public can anticipate seeing many work zones and are urged to keep in mind their safety and the safety of highway workers. When encountering a work zone, please drive the posted speed limit, turn on your headlights, pay close attention to signs and flaggers and avoid all distractions. In high traffic locations, motorists are encouraged to use both lanes of travel to the merge point and are to take turns merging into the open lane.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

Subscribe to PennDOT news in Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties at www.penndot.gov/District12.

Information about infrastructure in District 12, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.gov/D12Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.

Follow PennDOT’s southwest region on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAPittsburgh Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/southwestregionpenndot.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jay Ofsanik, 724-439-7135  # # #