Pike Street railroad crossing to close
There is good news and bad news for drivers who travel Pike Street near Country Club Road in Meadow Lands, Chartiers Township.
The bad news is the railroad crossing on Pike near Country Club will close Wednesday, necessitating a detour for drivers. The good news is the road will reopen to traffic five days later, about 5 p.m. July 13, once railroad tracks are replaced and approaches paved.
The work is being done in advance of a $2.1 million project by the state Department of Transportation to reconstruct the intersection of Pike and Country Club. The work, to be done by Frank Gavlik & Sons of Charleroi, includes widening Pike and Country Club to provide turning lanes and improve the turning radius for trucks. The existing traffic signal also will be replaced.
Once the tracks are removed on the Ohio Central line, PennDOT crews will install drainage pipes under the track needed as part of the construction project. When the tracks are in, PennDOT will pave the approaches.
The project to reconstruct the intersection was to start in early May but delayed for utility work, said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for PennDOT overseeing the project.
“We are doing some testing of samples of contaminated soils,” Faieta said. “Once we see what we have in about two weeks, it will be back to work.”
Work on the project actually started late last year with the demolition of a house and some preliminary work. There will be a single-lane restriction on Pike during the project, with a posted detour.
Traffic will be detoured during the track-replacement project. Drivers will be directed onto Interstate 79. Northbound drivers will get off at the Meadow Lands exit while southbound drivers will get off at Racetrack Road and be redirected to Pike.