Philipsburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today a new start date for overnight work on its safety enhancement project on Route 322 near Philipsburg. The project enhances safety by adding a center turning lane between the intersections of Decatur Hill/Graham Station Road and Route 53.

The contractor plans to complete overnight milling and initial paving operations between Pleasant Hill Road and the Railroad/Centre Street intersection from Tuesday, August 23, through Thursday, August 25. Crews will work 6:00 PM through 6:00 AM daily during this period. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during overnight milling and paving operations. PennDOT initially announced this work for Sunday, August 21, through Wednesday, August 24.

The contractor began milling the existing roadway surface between Graham Station Road and the Intersection of Route 2024 (Pleasant Hill Road) today. The contractor still intends to keep two lanes open as often as possible but advises drivers to anticipate periods where traffic is reduced to a single lane with flaggers in the roadway providing traffic control. Drivers should build extra time into their travel schedules to compensate for these periods of intermittent flagging.

Once milling and paving operations have concluded, the contractor will complete pavement markings, signing, driveway and side road adjustments, tie-ins, topsoil, and seeding throughout the work zone.

Overall work on the project includes adding an approximately one-mile center turning lane between Decatur Hill/Graham Station Road and Route 53, associated widening, traffic signal upgrades, paving and drainage improvements. It also includes replacing the bridge that spans Laurel Run and constructing a box culvert. The addition of the turning lane will enhance safety for motorists by reducing traffic congestion.

PennDOT anticipates overall project completion in late October. All work is weather and schedule dependent.

Clearwater Construction, Inc. of Mercer, PA, is the contractor for this $8.1 million job.

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 Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin, and Potter counties at www.penndot.gov/District2.

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MEDIA CONTACT:  Marla Fannin 814-765-0423, Timothy Nebgen 814-765-0598

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