Valley Brook Road in Peters Township to reopen after 15 months
A view of the Valley Brook Road project from the bridge on Route 19
The Route 19 interesction from the new ramp on Valley Brook Road
The new ramp that connects Valley Brook Road to Route 19 was widened and features additional turning lanes.
Construction on the Valley Brook Road project will be finished Thursday, when the road may open to traffic for the evening rush.
McMURRAY – Drivers can breathe a sigh of relief as Valley Brook Road in Peters Township is set to reopen, perhaps as early as the evening rush hour Thursday. The heavily traveled road was closed to traffic for more than 15 months to realign its intersection with Old Washington and to build a new ramp to Route 19. Before the closure, more than 11,000 vehicles traveled the two-lane road daily.
The $7.36-million project began in May 2013. Once the ramp is reopened, traffic signals on Washington Road will be reactivated. New traffic signals are in the test yellow flashing mode until at least Thursday, said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation.
Though overseen by PennDOT, Peters Township was required to supplement the project with $800,000.
For the past 15 months, motorists followed posted detours on state-owned roads or created their own routes through residential streets.
“Soon, it will be back to normal,” said Peters Township Manager Michael Silvestri.
Valley Brook Road is a major east-west corridor in the township connecting to Cecil Township, and for traffic to and from Southpointe.
Silvestri said residents living along unofficial detours will be pleased to see a reduction in traffic through their neighborhoods.
Two temporary speed humps placed during nonwinter months on Hays Road will remain until at least the end of September, Silvestri said. Hays Road was used by drivers to connect Washington Road in Upper St. Clair Township to East McMurray Road in Peters Township. The speed limit is 25 mph.
Though the temporary speed humps will be removed, permanent ones could be placed depending on results of a traffic calming study, Silvestri said.
Motorists will have a short reprieve from road closures after Valley Brook Road reopens. However, another project is on the books and already funded to start sometime in 2015, Silvestri said. The bridge near Finleyville Cemetery in Hackett that connects Peters, Union and Nottingham townships is slated for replacement.
Silvestri said the bridge project is currently in design.