Route 22 side streets in Murrysville will close for signal-control repairs

Drivers in Murrysville will be detoured briefly on Friday, as work crews repair a traffic signal control box that was damaged in a crash where Manor and Mellon roads meet Route 22.

Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said crews will begin repairs around 7:30 a.m. Friday morning.

The work is expected to take six to eight hours.

“Because of the repair and the volume of traffic, they’re going to close the intersection, including the turning lanes at the center strip on Route 22,” Nestico said. “The traffic light will be out and Route 22 traffic east and west will proceed straight through the intersection. … Anyone who wants to access Route 22 (from Mellon or Manor roads) will be making a right turn in and right turn out off of Manor and Mellon roads. And they’ll have to go to one of the turnarounds to head in the other direction.”

Murrysville officials want to upgrade the adaptive system, including the control boxes, which is used to coordinate Route 22 traffic lights through the town’s commercial corridor. Earlier this summer, council began pursuing a grant to start that work.

The current system was created by Rhythm Engineering. It’s about 12 years old, and Nestico said part of the reason it’s taken so long to repair the light timer is municipal staff has had difficulty reaching Rhythm officials regarding maintenance and other issues.

Murrysville officials have also dealt with multiple control boxes being damaged in otherwise minor crashes in recent years.

Just up the highway, Monroeville officials moved away from the Rhythm adaptive system last year, taking advantage of an $800,000 grant from the state’s “Green Light Go” program.