Drivers on I-70 west to encounter lane restriction Friday night
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Construction near the Eighty Four exit along Route 70
A view of Interstate 70 work from earlier this year
A project to widen and improve Interstate 70 between the Beau Street and Eighty Four/Glyde interchanges is continuing.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Interstate 70 work continues in the area of the Beau Street exit.
Drivers planning to travel Interstate 70 west between the south junction with Interstate 79 and the Beau Street exit tonight into early Saturday are being alerted that there will be a lane restriction in the area.
“There will be a lane shift on the westbound side so we can realign the barrier,” said Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation, at a Thursday update on road projects. “We will be pushing traffic to the right shoulder to give our contractor room to start work in the median.”
The restriction will begin at 8 p.m. today and is to be completed by 6 a.m. Saturday.
The work is part of the $117 million project to reconstruct about five miles of highway between the Beau Street and Eighty Four/Glyde interchanges in South Strabane Township. Lane Construction Co. is the primary contractor on the project. The westbound side of the interstate is being rebuilt this construction season.
Faieta said all excavation is done in the median and boring to place pipes started. Work is continuing to cut the slopes on both sides of the highway between the south junction and Eighty Four exit. Stream relocation is also continuing in that area.
There will be another lane restriction in the coming weeks to relocate a barrier near Zediker Station Road, east of the south junction.
Traffic tie-ups on I-70 west this week resulting from work being done to repair potholes and repave a stretch of the highway west of Washington have also affected crews working on the I-70 reconstruction.
Tim Harden, who oversees the project for Lane Construction, said the backlog of traffic made it difficult for truck drivers attempting to get on or off the highway in the construction zone.
Faieta said the milling and paving work is being done during the day because the temperature has to be 40 to 50 degrees to put down new asphalt. The repair work on the westbound lanes has been completed, and work on the eastbound lanes is expected to be completed Friday and Saturday.
The recent cold, wet weather had an adverse effect on the reconstruction project’s schedule. Faieta said the record rain caused problems although the contractor has done everything possible to keep things on track.
“The job is behind by several weeks,” Faieta said. It is slated to be completed in October 2020. “We will behaving several meetings to see what we can do. It is not easy because we have several phases of work.”
Faieta said there also were delays caused by environmental protection issues and getting necessary permits.
“We had to adapt and adjust to meet the state Department of Environmental Proection requirements,” Faieta said.