State begins study of possible improvement of Walnut Hill Road interchange
The state Department of Transportation is taking the first steps toward what could eventually lead to better access at the Walnut Hill Road exit off of Route 119 near the Uniontown Shopping Center. According to Jay Ofsanik, safety press officer for PennDOT District 12, PennDOT survey crews have begun the preliminary work for a feasibility study to determine if there is a need to make a full diamond access road at the site.
According to civil engineer manager Bill Beaumanage, the crews will be working on the surveys in the Walnut Hill area for approximately another week.
Currently, there is only a half-diamond interchange at the exit. Vehicles traveling on Route 119 can only use the Walnut Hill Exit if they are heading south.
If vehicles are on the Walnut Hill Exit they can gain access to the northbound lanes of Route 119, but to get on the southbound lanes, they must go past the shopping center to the next traffic light, Ofsanik said.
The half-diamond interchange has been in existence since Route 119 was constructed approximately 30 years ago. If the interchange is built, Ofsanik said construction may begin in the summer of 2005.
Ofsanik said as a part of the ongoing work, which began approximately a week ago, the survey crews are putting ground coordinates on aerial photographic maps. Once the mapping is complete, the consulting firm of URS Corp. of Pittsburgh will conduct the feasibility study.
Ofsanik said plans call for having the study completed by July and, if a need is determined to exist, preliminary and final design will commence.
If another interchange is constructed, federal funding will be used.
He said since Route 119 is a “limited access highway,” PennDOT has to show the federal government that building the interchange is warranted. He did not have a cost estimate for the project.
Coincidentally, another highway project that is slated to go to construction in 2005 is the Uniontown to Brownsville link of the Mon/Fayette Expressway.
Fayette County commissioner chairman Vincent A. Vicites recently persuaded the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to seriously consider putting a full diamond interchange at Fan Hollow Road in South Union Township near the county business park as a part of the toll road project.
In his argument, Vicites said that the county didn’t want another Walnut Hill exit. Vicites said not having a full interchange initially likely cost the area a loss of economic development.