Friday, October 08, 2010
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After more than 20 years of discussion and planning, reconstruction of the Wexford Flats section of Route 19 in Pine and McCandless will begin in the spring.
"It's a big success," said Dan Cessna, district executive for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
PennDOT received a low bid of $18.1 million from Golden Triangle Construction Co. of Imperial this month for the project, which will widen a 2.3-mile stretch that is plagued by congestion and crashes.
The four travel lanes will be widened to 11 feet. A 14-foot-wide center turning lane will be added. The project also calls for improvements to eight signalized intersections, new sidewalks and curbs and better drainage.
The project has moved slowly as PennDOT and municipalities worked through design and funding issues in a corridor that is far from ideal for highway expansion. The state had to acquire parts of nearly 100 properties to widen the road, which is lined with shopping plazas, car dealerships and the entrance to North Allegheny High School.
The project will stretch from just north of Longvue Avenue in McCandless to about a quarter-mile south of Wallace Road in Pine. Signals will be replaced at North Chapel Road-Manor Road, Bonnie View Drive, Brown Road, the entrance to Wright Pontiac, Brooktree Road-Brooker Drive, North Meadows Drive, Richard Road-Reichold Road and the entrance to North Allegheny.
While some utility work may occur over the winter, road construction will begin in spring at the south end of the project area, Mr. Cessna said.
Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction with a center turning lane. "We will maintain access to all businesses," he said.
Officials had said earlier this year that construction might begin this fall but the project schedule slipped by a few months.
"That won't affect the completion," which is scheduled for fall 2012, Mr. Cessna said.
Jon Schmitz: jschmitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868. Visit "The Roundabout," the Post-Gazette's transportation blog, at post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10281/1093471-54.stm#ixzz12fSlhBWo
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