$285M Westmoreland transportation investment proposed for next 4 years

Advancing technology allows more people to bridge distances through electronic connections. But traveling from one point to another remains a fact of life for most when it comes to working, buying household essentials, receiving health care and pursuing recreation.

That’s why plenty of resources continue to be devoted to improving area roads and bridges. The regional Transportation Improvement Program for Southwestern Pennsylvania’s 10 counties proposed spending more than $4.9 billion on major projects over the four years ending in 2022.

Of that total, an investment of more than $285 million was proposed in Westmoreland County, $213 million of which is slotted for the three construction seasons ahead.

Interstate 70 projects

PennDOT’s update of Interstate 70 is set to continue this year, as work nears completion on one section and gears up in another. The project is meant to improve traffic flow and safety while providing better access to such developments as the county’s new Commerce Crossing industrial park in Sewickley Township.

An I-70 project that has reached its midpoint is the $67 million reconstruction of ramps at the Route 31 interchange, to form a diamond configuration, and overall widening of the four travel lanes, median and two shoulders in South Huntingdon — between the neighboring Yukon and Smithton exits.

The majority of associated road work should be complete by December, according to Bill Kovach, PennDOT District 12 assistant district executive for construction.

“On the westbound side, we have on- and off-ramps that are closed and probably will open a little sooner, in the later fall,” he said. “There will still be some odds and ends that we’ll continue to work on into 2021. In the worst case, there might be a nighttime lane closure.”

Just to the east, $93 million worth of improvements are set to begin in a few months on the Yukon and Madison interchanges and the 3.7-mile stretch of I-70 that connects them. Initially, Kovach said, “we won’t be interfering with traffic, while we do clearing and grubbing” of vegetation in areas adjacent to the travel lanes.

Three new roundabouts are planned at the Madison interchange. One of them will provide access to the 200-acre Commerce Crossing, where warehouse and distribution operations are slated to occupy two of five pad-ready sites.

By the time that project wraps up, tentatively in September 2022, “we will have I-70 (improvements) complete from the Smithton Bridge up through the Pennsylvania Turnpike (at New Stanton),” Kovach said.

Reconstruction of two more interchanges — possibly stretching through 2026, at Route 51 and at Arnold City — would remain to complete all I-70 improvements planned in Westmoreland County.

Route 30 improvements

This year, PennDOT plans to make traffic signal upgrades to ease congestion on a 3-mile section of Route 30 in Jeannette and Hempfield, between North Greengate and Possum Hollow roads. It’s similar to work completed on Route 22 in Murrysville in 2016.

Timing of the switch between the signals’ red and green lights will be based on changing traffic volumes.

“Sensors collect traffic data, and the signal comes up with its own timing and implements it,” PennDOT senior project manager Barry Lyons said.

The improved signals are expected to cut travel time through the area by between 10% and 25% and will adjust to provide the right-of-way to approaching emergency vehicles, Lyons said. Project bids are to be opened in April.

Routes 119, 31

This summer, PennDOT plans to award bids for reconstruction of Route 119 in Youngwood, which is rife with uneven pavement.

“We won’t get started until at least June or July, and it will run into the 2022 construction season,” Kovach said. With an estimated cost of up to $25 million, the project will include updated sidewalks with handicapped-accessible curb ramps and “chicanes” — slight curves in the edge of the road — that will force motorists to weave back and forth and, hopefully, slow down.

PennDOT’s nearly $20 million realignment of Route 31 and improvement of the intersection with Route 711 at Donegal is “substantially complete,” Kovach said. “We still have some items of work remaining there, mainly ancillary items.” Crews recently were installing new road signs there.

Turnpike projects

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has proposed widening 18 miles of the turnpike main line to six lanes, from the Irwin interchange west to the vicinity of the Oakmont Country Club. Reconstruction of three bridges is under way this year to prepare for widening the 4-mile segment from Monroeville west to Milepost 53.

According to spokeswoman Renee Colborn, funding isn’t available yet for the 10-mile section from Monroeville east to Irwin, which could cost more than $300 million.

Proposed slip ramps that would connect the turnpike with Route 130 in Penn Township and with Route 981 in Mt. Pleasant Township also are on hold.

“The commission is not constructing any new interchanges until we complete our conversion to cashless tolling in 2022, due to the high costs associated with constructing a fully equipped toll interchange,” Colborn said. When that’s achieved, she added, “the process for evaluating a new interchange will be collaborative,” based on local requests and on recommendations from regional planning organizations such as the Pittsburgh-based Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

Airport area projects

The projected Route 981 turnpike ramp would dovetail with planned improvement of a 10.5-mile section of the 981 corridor between Mount Pleasant Borough and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity. The first of three sections of that Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project — stretching from the Route 819 intersection north to Norvelt and including three new roundabouts — is slated for construction from spring 2021 through winter 2023, with about $50 million budgeted for the work.

“They’ll be single-lane roundabouts, similar to what’s at the airport,” PennDOT project manager Troy Pritts said.

Project goals include improving safety and traffic flow by smoothing out or bypassing severe curves and widening the route’s two lanes and shoulders. Next in line may be the northernmost section, between Pleasant Unity and the airport, according to Pritts.

A pavement project of a different kind is slated at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, along Route 981 just south of Route 30. The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is set to widen the runway to 150 feet, adding 25 feet on each edge.

The $13.2 million project is being supported by nearly $12 million in federal grants and about $660,000 each from PennDOT’s Bureau of Aviation and a passenger facility charge collected by the authority. Nighttime construction is scheduled to begin this spring, concluding with a proposed shutdown of the runway for up to 16 days in September.

Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo has noted the widening project will make it easier for pilots to land during poor weather conditions. Combined with work to strengthen the runway, by adding 3 inches of asphalt, and the recent installation of a second passenger boarding bridge, the airport will be poised to potentially add more flights.

Monzo sees it as a continuation of the growth the airport has experienced over the past decade. Outbound passengers grew from 74,136 in 2012 — the first full year when sole carrier Spirit Airlines provided commercial flights — to 155,905 in 2019.

“Improvements like this enhance not only safety — which is always the number one priority — but economic impact, as well,” Monzo said.

During Spirit’s tenure, the airport’s estimated annual economic impact, as calculated by the Bureau of Aviation, has soared from $94 million to $226 million.