Governor Wolf, PennDOT Announce 2017 Highway Improvements in Southeast Pennsylvania

Governor Wolf, PennDOT Announce 2017 Highway Improvements in Southeast
Pennsylvania

5/30/2017-NORRISTOWN

Governor Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
(PennDOT)
today announced that over $550 million in highway and bridge improvements
will
begin or be bid across the Philadelphia region during the 2017 construction

season, bringing the region's total contract work this year to roughly 125
projects worth $2.2 billion.

"The funding allocated for these projects not only reduces the backlog of
Pennsylvania's pavement and bridge demands, but significantly improves the
growing need for better mobility and safety on our roadways," Governor Wolf

said. "This major investment in our infrastructure that will greatly
improve
our vast transportation network, enhance local communities and generate
more
robust economies across the state."

The announcement was made on a site within the Lafayette Street Extension
Project, a $95 million project that will spur economic redevelopment in
Norristown and strengthen one of Plymouth Township's busy retail and
industrial
centers.


Overall highlights in the 2017 construction season for PennDOT's District 6

(Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties) include:

• approximately 235 miles of paving; and
• approximately 33 bridges will be repaired or replaced.

"The infusion of additional funding through Act 89 has allowed us to move
critical projects into construction that will help extend the service life
of
our highways and bridges, improve safety and strengthen our infrastructure
for
future generations," District 6 Executive Kenneth M. McClain said.

Notable projects that have recently moved into construction include:

• I-95 Betsy Ross Ramps/Adams Avenue Connector in Philadelphia ($81
million);
• U.S. 322 widening in Delaware County ($62.6 million);
• U.S. 202 bridges over Amtrak in Chester County ($26.4 million);
• Route 452 bridge replacement in Delaware County ($19.9 million);
• I-95 overhead bridges in Delaware County ($16.6 million);
• JFK Boulevard bridge rehabilitations in Philadelphia ($15.9 million);
• Pottstown signal system improvements in Montgomery County ($13.3
million);
• U.S 13 (Bristol Pike) resurfacing in Bucks County ($3 million); and
• Route 41/Newark Road Intersection improvement in Chester County ($1.4
million).
Notable projects that are expected to be bid this year include:
• I-95 GR4 in Philadelphia (estimated $278 million);
• Chestnut Street bridges in Philadelphia (apparent low bid $103.5
million);
• U.S. 1 improvement in Bucks County (estimated $85 million);
• U.S. 422 reconstruction in Montgomery County (estimated $38 million);
• I-95 resurfacing in Bucks County (apparent low bid $29.6 million);
• Markley Street/U.S. 202 South improvement in Montgomery County (estimated
$24
million);
• I-76 resurfacing in Montgomery County (apparent low bid $21.1 million);
• MacDade Boulevard improvement in Delaware County (estimated $5.5
million); and
• 14 contracts to resurface 235 segment miles in the Philadelphia region.

A map showing all contracted work that District 6 has underway or that will

start or be bid this year is available at www.penndot.gov/district6 on the
"Construction Projects/Roadwork" page.

Serving as another example of transportation's impact on communities, the
three-phase Lafayette Street project is funded 80 percent by the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) and 20 percent by Montgomery County.
Montgomery
County initiated the project and manages it in partnership with PennDOT and
the
FHWA. The first phase, which extended Lafayette Street past its former
limit at
Ford Street into Plymouth Township, finished construction in early 2015.
The
second phase, completed in December 2016, improved local roads in
preparation
for the eventual interchange and includes widening Ridge Pike between Ross
Street and School Lane; realigning, rebuilding, and signalizing Fairfield
Road
and Diamond Avenue; and connecting the extended Lafayette Street into
Diamond
Avenue.

The third phase, estimated at $25 million, is on schedule to be bid this
fall
with construction expected to begin in the spring of 2018 and will widen
and
rebuild the existing Lafayette Street in downtown Norristown. The work will

also improve mobility for bicyclists and pedestrians by installing a
pedestrian
crossing at the Norristown Transportation Center and connecting the
Schuylkill
River Trail and the Chester Valley Trail at DeKalb Street and Lafayette
Street.

The regional investments complement the department's Road Maintenance and
Preservation, or Road MaP, program, which Governor Wolf recently announced
will
invest $2.1 billion in maintenance and highway and bridge capital projects
over
the next 10 years. Of the investments, $1 billion will go to roadway
maintenance and $1.1 billion will go to highway and bridge capital
projects. Of
the capital projects, $500 million will be allocated to an Interstate
preservation and reconstruction program, bringing that total program, begun
in
2016, to $1 billion over the next 10 years. Another $600 million will go
toward
rehabilitation and reconstruction needs identified through the department's

district and regional planning efforts.

For more information on projects occurring or being bid this year, those
made
possible by or accelerated by Act 89, or those on the department's Four and

Twelve Year Plans, visit www.projects.penndot.gov.

To view a complete list of District 6 News Releases: Click
http://www.penndot.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/Pages/allnews.aspx

To unsubscribe click
http://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/districts/district6/d6media.nsf/unsubscribeform?OpenForm