Oct 29, 2016 3 min read

Good weather and few washouts from heavy rain this construction season enabled crews working on the diverging diamond interchange on Interstate 70 at Murtland Avenue and Route 19 in South Strabane Township to get ahead of schedule.

But luck ran out earlier this month, forcing the postponement of switching westbound traffic to the newly constructed lanes on the west side of the highway. The switch of westbound traffic, which is currently traveling on the eastbound side of the highway, was to have been done last week. But wet weather the previous week pushed back the switch to Monday, said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer overseeing the project for the state Department of Transportation.

“The work to begin to switch traffic over to the new westbound lanes will start about 8 p.m.,” Faieta said. “There may be some single-lane traffic restrictions as the switch is done. But by Tuesday morning, the lanes will be wide open on the westbound side.”

The $51.2 million to reconstruct the stretch of I-70 between the East Beau Street interchange and the north junction with Interstate 79 began in November 2014. The eastbound lanes were rebuilt last year and the westbound lanes were done this year along with the construction of the diverging diamond on Route 19 under the highway. The diverging diamond interchange is the first in the state. Traffic north and south on Route 19 switch sides under the highway before crossing back into their respective lanes or getting onto the highway.

Eastbound traffic will be moved back to its normal configuration this week after barriers are removed, although all three lanes will not be opened. Faieta said that is being done in anticipation of a construction project on I-70 just to the east between the East Beau and Eighty Four exits. That project will be done in 2017.

While the westbound lanes will be open, Faieta said there is still work to be done this construction season.

“The ramp from I-70 west to I-79 north will be two lanes,” Faieta said. “But the ramp will continue to be one lane for another few weeks until we finish some work on it.”

Work will resume on the construction of the median and mountable curbs that are part of the diverging diamond on Route 19 and at the ramps to I-70.

“The focus for the crews the last two weeks had been on the main line getting ready for the traffic switch,” Faieta said. “They have done very little with the barriers and curbs.”

Repaving of Route 19 between Oak Spring Road and the entrances to Trinity Point and Strabane Square will be done next year. The work on the highway was to be done in November 2017, but Faieta expects it to be done by next summer. Golden Triangle Construction of Imperial is the general contractor for the project.