Rain forces delay in I-70 traffic switch as part of Murtland Avenue project
The persistent rain in recent days has forced the state Department of Transportation to postpone plans to switch eastbound traffic on Interstate 70 as part of the work at the Murtland Avenue interchange in South Strabane Township.
Plans called for splitting eastbound traffic and crossing one of those lanes onto the westbound side of the highway June 26 but the rain has prevented crews with the general contractor, Golden Triangle Construction of Imperial, from completing concrete work.
“We have been stymied by the weather. The rain has been so hit and miss,” said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for PennDOT. “We have started on concrete shoulder work. We have three more nights of work to do.”
“This will affect the switch. While we had been shooting for June 26, we are pushing it back to July 7 because of the weather and the Fourth of July holiday,” he added. “It could work out better this way because of the holiday traffic.”
The work is being done as part of a $51 million project to construct a diverging diamond interchange at Murtland. When done, drivers on Route 19 traveling under the interstate will cross over and switch lanes with signals controlling traffic flow. Motorists will have the option of passing through or getting on the highway.
“But we are still on schedule even with the delays,” Faieta said Tuesday. “The new ramps opened and they ride nice.”
The ramps from Route 19 north to I-70 east and west opened to traffic Friday along with the ramp from I-70 west to Route 19 north. The northbound lanes also were switched over to newly built lanes and the center lanes closed in the area between Oak Spring Road and just south of Trinity Point and Strabane Square.
“That traffic pattern will be in place for three or four weeks,” Faieta said. “Drivers will get acclimated to that pattern when we will be switching it up again.”
Faieta said that PennDOT has paid about $15 million to Golden Triangle for the work done to date. The project is slated to be done in November 2017.