Northbound Schuylkill Avenue near 30th Street Station to Close for Five Months for Bridge Rehabilitation

Northbound Schuylkill Avenue near 30th Street Station to Close for Five
Months for Bridge Rehabilitation

8/11/2017-KING OF PRUSSIA

Beginning at 7:00 AM Monday, August 21, northbound Schuylkill Avenue near
30th
Street Station in Philadelphia will be closed and detoured between Walnut
Street and Chestnut Street for approximately five months for rehabilitation
of
the structure over Interstate 76, the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation
(PennDOT) announced today.

The work is part of a major project to rehabilitate the Chestnut Street
bridge
over the Schuylkill River and eight other nearby structures, including
those
carrying Schuylkill Avenue over I-76 between Walnut Street and Chestnut
Street,
and between Chestnut Street and Market Street.

The closure of northbound Schuylkill Avenue will prohibit right turns by
motorists and cyclists using the Walnut Street bridge over the Schuylkill
River. During the closure, Walnut Street motorists heading to 30th Street
Station, westbound I-76 and eastbound Interstate 676 will be detoured west
to
33rd Street, then right on 33rd Street to Market Street, and right on
Market
Street to Schuylkill Avenue.

The sidewalk on the east side of Schuylkill Avenue will also be closed to
pedestrians, as will crosswalks on the south side of Chestnut Street at
Schuylkill Avenue and on the north side of Walnut Street at Schuylkill
Avenue.
The sidewalk on the west side of Schuylkill Avenue will remain open.

In addition to the closure, intermittent overnight lane restrictions will
be in
place Monday, August 14, through Thursday, August 17, from 8:00 PM to 6:00
AM
the following morning, on northbound and southbound Schuylkill Avenue
between
Market Street and Chestnut Street for removal of the concrete median
island.

Motorists are advised to allow extra time when traveling near the work zone

because slowdowns will occur. All scheduled activities are weather
dependent.

In addition to repairing and repainting the steel superstructure and
replacing
the deck of the main bridge carrying Chestnut Street over the Schuylkill
River
and the two Schuylkill Avenue structures over I-76, the project also
includes:

• Rehabilitating two structures on the I-76 ramps between Chestnut
Street and Walnut Street;
• Resurfacing Chestnut Street from 31st Street to 30th Street, and
from
24th Street to 23rd Street;
• Constructing wider sidewalks and installing decorative barrier and
railings on the Chestnut Street and Schuylkill Avenue bridges;
• Rehabilitating a 900-foot section of the river wall structure
between
I-76 and the Schuylkill River from Market Street and Walnut Street;
• Rehabilitating a 15-foot section of the retaining wall supporting
the
Schuylkill River Trail under Chestnut Street;
• Installing new traffic signals, Intelligent Transportation System
(ITS) equipment, and street lighting along Chestnut Street between 31st
Street
and 23rd Street;
• Replacing millennium lighting on Chestnut Street over the
Schuylkill
River;
• Constructing a new trellis at the Chestnut Street Trailhead to the
Schuylkill River Trail;
• Restriping pavement markings for a bicycle lane on Chestnut Street
between 34th Street and 22nd Street; and
• Installing a new clear acrylic barrier along Amtrak Northeast
Corridor tracks located on the west side of Schuylkill Avenue West between
Chestnut Street and Walnut Street.

The entire project is scheduled to finish in fall 2020.

The bridges on Chestnut Street and Schuylkill Avenue West will be under
construction concurrently and will remain open for most of the project.
There
will be various lane and sidewalk restrictions during the three stages of
construction that will require shifts in travel lane and sidewalk
configurations.

Approximately midway through the project, a detour will be in place for
about
one year on Chestnut Street from Schuylkill Avenue West to 23rd Street for
the
rehabilitation of the structurally deficient bridge carrying Chestnut
Street
over the CSX rail lines.

The Schuylkill River Trail will be closed below Chestnut Street for
approximately three months over the winter of 2017-2018 for repairs.

In addition, the on-and-off-ramps at the I-76 Interchange between Chestnut
Street and Walnut Street will be restricted to a single lane of traffic
during
construction. There will also be nighttime and weekend full closures of the

ramps during certain construction operations.

The structures on Chestnut Street were constructed between 1864 and 1960
and
carry an average of 18,300 vehicles per day. The bridges on Schuylkill
Avenue
West were built in the late 1950's and carry an estimated 8,600 vehicles
per
day.

Buckley & Company Inc., of Philadelphia is the general contractor on the
$103,589,847 project, which is financed with 80 percent federal and 20
percent
state funds.

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.

A list of weekly road restrictions and PennDOT maintenance operations in
the
five-county Philadelphia region is available by visiting the District 6
Traffic
Bulletin at www.penndot.gov/District6.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by
visiting
www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides
traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and
access
to more than 825 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and
Android
devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts
accessible
on the 511PA website.

For more PennDOT information, visit www.penndot.gov. Follow local PennDOT
information on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAPhilly, and follow the
department on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/pennsylvaniadepartmentoftransportation and Instagram at
www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot.

To view a complete list of District 6 News Releases: Click
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