Next Interstate 70 project will add 3 roundabouts at Madison exit

PennDOT’s ongoing Interstate 70 improvements are expected to continue next year, with revamping of the Madison and Yukon exits.

Construction could begin as early as February and is expected to continue through September 2022, according to PennDOT District 12 officials.

Submitting a proposal of about $92.9 million, Trumbull Corp. is the apparent low bidder for the project, which also will include widening the interstate between the two exits and from a point east of the Madison exit continuing to a bridge that carries I-70 over Hunker-Waltz Mill Road.

The latter part of the widening will bridge a gap in the I-70 upgrades, connecting with a section of the interstate that previously was improved along with the New Stanton interchange, according to Jeremy Shaneyfelt, a civil engineer manager with Uniontown-based PennDOT District 12.

In total, the project spans about four miles in Hempfield, Sewickley and South Huntingdon townships, he said.

Additional segments of the interstate remain to be addressed in Westmoreland County, including two interchange improvements that are in the design phase — at the Arnold City and Route 51 exits.

At the Madison exit in Sewickley Township, three roundabouts will replace stop-controlled intersections — one each for eastbound and westbound traffic, where the on- and off-ramps meet, and a third that will tie together Waltz Mill Road, Waltz Mill Flats Road and a relocated section of Borough Line Road that will be shifted to the northeast.

The roundabout at Waltz Mill Road will provide access to Commerce Crossing at Westmoreland, a 200-acre industrial park being developed by the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. on land purchased from the adjacent Westinghouse plant.

Cincinnati-based real estate development firm AI. Neyer LLC plans to build two structures — each more than 200,000 square feet, with warehouse and distribution space — on 53 acres, occupying two of the industrial park’s five planned pad-ready sites.

Infrastructure work on Commerce Crossing is nearly complete, according to IDC Executive Director Jason Rigone. He noted the importance of transportation improvements for such development efforts.

“PennDOT’s investment, not only in the interchange but along Interstate 70, is certainly very important to modernize our transportation system,” Rigone said.

Roundabouts were the best fit for the Madison interchange, Shaneyfelt said.

“We really like to look at the roundabouts because, overall, they are safe,” he said. “You can get traffic through them well and minimize accidents.

“It serves the business park well, too, but safety is what it comes down to.”

Roundabouts, which were installed at the New Stanton exit, are one-way circular lanes that allow more motorists to move between intersecting roads without the need for stop signs. Entering motorists are required to yield to those already driving along the circular lane.

The “trumpet” design of the Yukon exit — where both on- and off-ramps converge — will be maintained, but the size of the interchange will expand so the ramps can be lengthened, Shaneyfelt explained.

“Everything gets bigger, but the layout really doesn’t change,” he said.

The interchange improvement required displacing two residences, one of which was vacant, he said.

In keeping with the rest of the upgrades along I-70, lanes will be widened to 12 feet. Between the Madison and Yukon exchanges, Shaneyfelt said, “there will be a full-length auxiliary lane on both the eastbound and westbound sides, so it will look like six lanes.”

According to PennDOT, the project will require excavation of more than 800,000 cubic yards of dirt and replacement of four bridges that carry I-70 over other roads, the Southwest Penn Railroad, Sewickley Creek and an unnamed tributary to the creek.

Crews also will extend a culvert over another tributary, Lick Run, and relocate a section of that stream to improve its flow, Shaneyfelt said.

While short-term overnight lane closures may be needed during construction, PennDOT intends to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction on I-70 during the daytime, he said.