Diverging diamond interchange could open this year
Traffic moves along Interstate 70 at Murtland Avenue in South Strabane Township Tuesday.
Traffic moves along Interstate 70 at Murtland Avenue in Washington on Tuesday.
Drivers who travel Route 19 under Interstate 70 at the Murtland Avenue interchange in South Strabane Township could be navigating Pennsylvania’s first diverging diamond interchange later this year.
Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation overseeing the project, said Tuesday it is a possibility, but not a certainty, that the DDI will be ready to open this construction season.
The diverging diamond interchange requires traffic to cross over and switch lanes on Route 19 with traffic signals directing the flow to allow motorists passage through the area or onto I-70 going in either direction. Work on the $51.2 million project being done by General Industries of Imperial started in November 2014 and is tentatively slated to be done in November 2017.
“We will know more later this month if it will be implemented,” Faieta said. “We had a discussion with our traffic people. Some utility lines need to be moved so we can put up a permanent sign on Route 19 near the Waffle House. The traffic unit are also looking into the possibility of using temporary signs if the utilities can’t be moved,” he added. “If we do get to that point, it would take 24-hour, around-the-clock work and require single-lane closures.”
All aspects of the project are on schedule for this year, while some are even a little ahead of schedule, Faieta said.
“We started in March instead of waiting until April 1,” Faieta said. “That gave us a two-week head start.”
Work is continuing on the construction of new, westbound lanes of Interstate 70. Traffic in both directions is using the new eastbound lanes that were completed in 2015.
“We’ve got a lot of it done,” Faieta said. “The stretch between Locust Avenue and Murtland is pretty much done and we are working on the area between Murtland and Beau.”
Concrete for the bridge over Locust is expected to be poured about Aug. 10 with the bridge over Murtland slated to be done about Sept. 7. Faieta said there are currently some overnight lane restrictions on Route 19 from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. that could continue until next week.
On Monday, work is scheduled to be done starting at 6 p.m. through 6 a.m. Tuesday to reestablish the barricades on the ramp from I-70 east to Interstate 79 north. Faieta said on Tuesday night, traffic on the ramp will be switched to the newly constructed surface.
State police Sgt. Doug Kramer said there was some congestion through the construction area, but no problems out of the ordinary.
“We are still doing speed enforcement in the area where the speed limit is 45 mph,” Kramer said. “Drivers face losing their licenses for 15 days if they are caught going 11 mph or more over the speed limit in a construction zone.”
The enforcement area is between the Jessop Place and just east of the East Beau Street interchanges.