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Despite rainy weather, road projects progress

By Steve Ferris sferris@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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PennDOT construction keeps workers busy around the county, including Jason Markham, of Uniontown, a welder at the McClellandtown Road bridge over 119.

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Kelly Tunney | Herald Standard

PennDOT construction keeps workers busy around the county, including Jason Markham, of Uniontown, a welder at the McClellandtown Road bridge over 119.

Frequent rains have caused some holdups in state road and bridge construction projects in Fayette County, but hasn’t caused major delays.

“A couple of our projects have been slowed down a little because of the rain. Especially bridge projects,” said Valerie Petersen, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) District 12 in Uniontown.

When rain halts work on one part of a project, workers shift to work that is not dependent on weather to keep the project moving forward, she said.

“Everything seems to be pretty close to on time, but we’re working with Mother Nature,” Petersen said.

Motorists have made a few complaints, but most people seem to accept the traffic delays as necessary in order to improve the roads, she said.

“We’ve been real lucky with motorist being patient with us,” Petersen said.

Rain has hampered the pouring of the concrete deck on the Masontown Bridge, but work is continuing and the $49.6 million project remains on schedule to be finished by Dec. 1, said Jay Ofsanik, PennDOT District 12 safety press officer.

Traffic on the bridge will be restricted to one lane when the concrete is being poured to allow the concrete to cure. Message boards will tell motorists when lane closures go into effect.

Within the next two weeks the contractor plans on completing the reconstruction of River Avenue Extension in Masontown. Traffic will be impacted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. when that work starts.

Traffic backups on Route 40 caused by work on upgrading the intersection of Route 40 and New Salem Road could be exacerbated by a planned resurfacing project on Route 40 from Northgate Highway in North Union Township to Mount Vernon Avenue in Uniontown.

The work includes milling the existing road surface, making any needed repairs to the road base and then repaving the surface and is scheduled to be completed by July 31.

Meanwhile, lane restrictions remain in place on Route 40 and New Salem Road for the intersection improvement project. The contractor is installing drainage pipes and inlets on Route 40 and is working on drainage and widening New Salem Road. The $2 million project is scheduled to be completed in September.

The concrete overlay project on Route 119 is about to shift from the left lanes to the right lanes in both directions, but all four lanes will be open for the Fayette County Fair from July 30 to Aug. 8.

“We’ll suspend work that restrict lanes,” Ofsanik said, adding that contractors will work other work while all the lanes are open.

The contractor is working on guide rails, line painting and shoulder backup. Following the lanes switch, the median barrier and concrete islands will be removed, and the milling of the passing lanes will commence.

The $7.2 million project involves resurfacing 4.35 miles of Route 119 from Pechin Road to Bell Drive in Dunbar Township and is on schedule to be finished in September.

The $18 million project to widen Route 21 from Thompson Crossing to the Uniontown Mall, which is scheduled to be finished in December 2016, remains in progress with traffic restrictions.

Utility companies and their sub-contractors are continuing to relocate overhead and underground lines. Alternating traffic will be controlled by flaggers through the work zone so the contractor can install drainage and continue with earth-moving work.

The project includes rehabilitating the Route 21 bridge over Route 119. Phase one of the deck replacement is progressing, and the deck should be poured in the next two weeks. Only eastbound traffic (toward the Uniontown Hospital) can travel over the bridge during the current phase of work.

Motorists may continue to encounter lane restrictions on Route 40 in both directions in Menallen Township for the $7.4 million project to relocate the intersection along Route 40 at the intersection of Dearth and Canistra roads.

The contractor is installing drainage and performing earthwork. The project is expected to be completed in July 2016.

Work on replacing the Coal Lick Run Bridge, which carries Pittsburgh Street over the creek in Uniontown, is expected to be finished by Sept. 30.

The contractor is working on the foundation add substructure for the new bridge in the $1.4 million project. Posted detours remain in place.

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