Aug 6, 2020 2 min read

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has been working night shifts on the Jefferson Avenue reconstruction project in Washington.

Since the work requires lane closures, PennDOT crews are working from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and will likely continue that schedule through September, according to Jay Ofsanik, PennDOT’s press officer for District 12.

“It’s a busy area,” Ofsanik said. “That’s why we’re doing a lot of this work overnight.”

Since the project was slated to begin until this past April, Ofsanik said the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t “directly affect” the timeline of the three-year project.

“A lot of our projects were delayed, but it didn’t affect this one,” he said. “It’s a lot of utility work right now.”

The plan is to reconstruct and pave Route 18, from Tyler Avenue to Henderson Avenue, and include a portion of Wylie Avenue up to the Interstate 70 ramp. The project will include adding traffic lights at the intersections with the I-70 ramps, both on Wylie and Jefferson.

Early this year, project manager Sean Sepe estimated the cost to be between $7 million and $12 million.

Aside from utility work, the first year of the project will also include widening Jefferson to allow for a right-turn lane to the on-ramp for I-70 eastbound. Ofsanik said they will probably do that work late next month.

“We will probably have two weekends where that ramp will be closed,” he said.

Crews likely won’t get to the construction at the other I-70 ramp on Wylie Avenue until September 2022, Ofsanik said.