PennDOT to close I-70 West Newton ramp for 8 months

Motorists using the westbound on and off ramps of the West Newton/Mt. Pleasant exit on Interstate 70 will have to detour several miles and for several months beginning Jan. 15, PennDOT said.

The westbound ramps will be closed starting at 8 a.m. Jan. 15 until about August for ramp reconstruction work as part of a project to widen I-70 in Westmoreland County and improve safety along the highway. Approximately 18,000 motorists travel that section of the highway eastbound and westbound, in a 24-hour period, said Valerie Peterson, a PennDOT spokeswoman.

Traffic will be detoured using the eastbound ramp from Route 31 to the Yukon exit to I-70 westbound. Vehicles will be routed to the I-70 westbound ramps. Westbound motorists who want to use the West Newton exit of I-70 will be directed to travel to the Smithton exit, then take the eastbound Smithton exit to return to I-70, back to the West Newton/Mt. Pleasant exit.

Golden Triangle Construction, the contractor on the project, will construct acceleration and deceleration lanes for motorists using the on-ramp and the off-ramp, said Jeff Miller, PennDOT project engineer.

As part of the reconstruction of I-70 that involves widening the highway, PennDOT will eliminate the off-bound ramp that directs traffic onto the westbound lanes of Route 31, toward West Newton, Miller said. Motorists will have one westbound off-ramp, just past the overhead bridge carrying the interstate over Route 31, which will allow them to travel either toward West Newton or Mt. Pleasant, Miller said.

With the West Newton/Mt. Pleasant ramps ready for reconstruction, Miller said the state will turn its attention toward reconstructing the I-70 ramps at the Arnold City exit, about a mile east of the Route 201 exit.

The final ramp reconstruction project will be at the intersection of I-70 and Route 51, where they are no acceleration or deceleration ramps.