Work at Murtland Avenue interchange wraps up for season
Drivers who travel Interstate 70 at the Murtland Avenue interchange and Route 19 in South Strabane Township are getting a reprieve from restrictions and orange barrels for about four months after most of the work was completed for the season.
Traffic was moved back to the eastbound lanes of the interstate two weekends ago, a few days before the Nov. 23 deadline, said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation.
Golden Triangle Construction of Imperial started work in the fall of 2014 on the $51 million project to construct a diverging diamond interchange at Murtland.
“Eastbound traffic on the interstate is back to its normal configuration, and on Route 19, as well,” Faieta said Tuesday. “Things will stay like that until the beginning of April. There will be no nighttime work or lane restrictions in the coming months.
“We will be doing some work on drainage and in the median of I-70 during the winter,” he added.
“We also will be working on lighting around the ramps and working on sign structures.”
Some preparation work also will be done in anticipation of constructing temporary crossovers for when the westbound lanes are done in 2016.
The width restrictions on the highway also were lifted, Faieta said. Oversized loads wider than 10 feet were not permitted through the construction zone this season, although some drivers who did not follow assigned routes caused problems by knocking over barriers in the work zone.
The lanes will be 11 feet wide next year, which should alleviate some problems.
Faieta said for such a complex project, he thought things went well during the construction this year.
“Although the public doesn’t always see it like we do,” Faieta said, noting not only the issues with the oversize loads but with the backups at the merge point onto I-70 eastbound from Interstate 79 southbound, “I was pleased with the work done by the contractor and the assistance from state and South Strabane police.”
Faieta said PennDOT paid $26 million to Golden Triangle for work done on the project.
He expects some preliminary work for next year’s construction to begin in March.