U.S. 422 West Traffic to Shift onto Newly Completed Bridge over the Schuylkill River in Valley Forge Area

U.S. 422 West Traffic to Shift onto Newly Completed Bridge over the
Schuylkill River in Valley Forge Area

2/8/2018-KING OF PRUSSIA

Westbound U.S. 422 motorists will encounter lane closures and temporary
stoppages next week as crews prepare to shift two lanes of westbound
traffic
onto the newly built westbound bridge over the Schuylkill River in Upper
Merion
and West Norriton townships, Montgomery County, the Pennsylvania Department
of
Transportation (PennDOT) announced today.

Weather permitting, from 8:00 PM Tuesday, February 13, to 6:00 AM
Wednesday,
February 14, right and left lane closures with periodic 15-minute traffic
stoppages will occur on westbound U.S. 422 between the U.S. 202 and Oaks
interchanges so crews can place barriers and perform temporary paving and
line
striping operations. By 6:00 AM Wednesday, February 14, westbound U.S. 422
traffic will be shifted onto the newly constructed westbound bridge. In the

event of inclement weather, this operation will be moved to the following
night.

PennDOT plans to move two lanes of eastbound traffic over to the new
multi-span
bridge this summer to enable the contractor to remove the existing U.S. 422

structure and build a new bridge that will eventually carry eastbound
traffic
across the river.

In addition to the overnight lane closures on westbound U.S. 422, there
will be
lane restrictions on eastbound U.S. 422 and short-term and long-term ramp
closures at Route 23 (Valley Forge Road). The work schedule is:

• Monday afternoon, February 12, the ramp from eastbound U.S. 422 to Route
23
(Valley Forge Road) is scheduled to close for construction of a new
fly-over
ramp at that interchange. The ramp closure will be in place through late
summer. During construction, motorists will be directed to continue
eastbound
on U.S. 422, exit at First Avenue and make a left on Gulph Road to reach
Route
23 (Valley Forge Road);

• Monday, February 12, from 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM the following morning, a
right
lane closure is scheduled on eastbound U.S. 422 between the Route 363
(Trooper
Road) and Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) interchanges; and

• Tuesday, February 13, from 7:00 PM to 6:00 AM the following morning, the
ramp
from westbound Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) to westbound U.S. 422 will be
closed. During construction, westbound Route 23 (Valley Forge Road)
motorists
will be directed to take the ramp to eastbound U.S. 422, exit at First
Avenue,
turn left onto Gulph Road and right on Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) to
access
the ramp to westbound U.S. 422.

Drivers should allow additional time for travel near the construction zones

because backups and delays will occur.

This work is part of a project to build new, wider bridges to improve
travel
and carry U.S. 422 motorists over the Schuylkill River, Norfolk Southern
Railroad, South Trooper Road and Schuylkill River Trail. The existing
structures were built in 1965 and carry an average of 92,000 vehicles a
day.

The new, five-span structures will be 785 feet long and have a total width
of
146 feet (the bridge's existing width is 72 feet). When construction is
completed, the new bridges will carry six lanes – three westbound and three

eastbound. There will be two through lanes in each direction plus a third
lane
on both sides for drivers to use to travel between the Route 363 (Trooper
Road)
and Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) interchanges. The new bridges will be wide

enough for the possible addition of a third through lane in each direction
sometime in the future.

The improvement plan also includes rebuilding one mile of U.S. 422 between
the
two interchanges, and upgrading the interchanges by: realigning the U.S.
422
east off-ramp to Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) by building a new fly-over
ramp;
improving the Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) on-ramp to U.S. 422 west;
replacing
the Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) bridge over U.S. 422; rebuilding 1,500
feet of
Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) approaching the U.S. 422 Interchange;
improving
the U.S. 422 west off-ramp to Route 363 (Trooper Road) and the Route 363
(Trooper Road) on-ramp to U.S. 422 east; and widening the U.S. 422 east
off-ramp to First Avenue.

Construction on this improvement project began in February 2016 and is
scheduled to finish in May 2020.

This project is associated with the Schuylkill River Crossing Complex of
transportation improvement projects designed to enhance travel on U.S. 422
between the Route 363 (Trooper Road) and Route 23 (Valley Forge Road)
interchanges. These improvements also include the two additional ramps
built to
complete the U.S. 422/Route 363 (Trooper Road) Interchange, a project that
was
finished in December 2015; the construction of a new pedestrian/bicycle
trail
bridge over the Schuylkill River in Valley Forge National Historical Park,
which was completed in August 2016; and the relocation of North Gulph Road
at
Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) in Valley Forge National Historical Park,
which is
expected to move to construction in 2020.

J.D. Eckman, Inc. of Atglen, Chester County, is the general contractor on
the
$97.4 million project that is financed with 80 percent federal and 20
percent
state funds.

For additional information on U.S. 422 improvement projects, visit
www.422improvements.com.

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, including

color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 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 850
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.

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