Jun 14, 2016 3 min read

The assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation overseeing the construction of the diverging diamond interchange on Interstate 70 at Murtland Avenue in South Strabane Township said Tuesday the project is on schedule and ahead of schedule in some aspects of the work.

The project is about 62 percent complete with PennDOT paying almost $32 million to the general contractor on the project, Golden Triangle Construction of Imperial, Scott Faieta, PennDOT assistant construction engineer, said Tuesday.

“We are on schedule for most of the work, and with some work items we are ahead of schedule,” Faieta said. “This project will definitely finish on time, if not ahead of schedule.”

The project is set to be completed by Nov. 3, 2017. Work on the project began in fall 2014 with the eastbound lanes completed last year. Work is being done on the westbound side this construction season.

“All the pavement on the westbound side has been removed,” Faieta said. “We are wrapping up work on the drainage and preparing some areas for stone and base.”

The bridge that takes the westbound lanes over Route 19 has been demolished. The beams are being sandblasted off-site, Faieta said. They will be reset later on the span.

“We will occasionally shift traffic on Route 19 as we paint the bridge on the eastbound side that was done last year,” Faieta said. “We will bump the traffic from the left to the right lane, depending where they are working.”

Work is also continuing on the bridge that takes the highway over Locust Avenue on the western side of the project.

“The beams have been set,” Faieta said. “We are making the span a little wider.”

Work is being done on the slope near the East Beau Street interchange.

Any work done around the July 4 holiday should not impede the flow of traffic. Faieta said the contractor may do some work off to the side, but will not be allowed to impact the flow of traffic from the night of June 30 through the night of July 5.

Faieta said there have been no issues with the ramp that comes from Interstate 79 southbound to I-70 eastbound. During last year’s construction season, there were often backlogs onto I-79 south as far as Meadow Lands.

State police Lt. Douglas Bartoe, patrol section supervisor for Troop B in Washington, agreed.

“The traffic on the interstate has been going well,” Bartoe said. “We’ve had no real issues this year.”