Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project

[webny99]

I would have made old 147 a secondary from 61 up to Ridge Road. Just my own thought.

I figure they must have wanted (a) a consistent state route on the east side of the river, and (b) a N/S state route through Northumberland. Extending 405 achieves both. It's certainly shorter (mileage-wise) than double-crossing the river, and will probably still have enough traffic to warrant state route status. Time will tell I guess.

[Hwy 61 Revisited]

How come 61/147 is a super-two for brief moments? Wouldn't it be better to keep it a consistent 4-lane freeway spur?

[74/171FAN]

How come 61/147 is a super-two for brief moments? Wouldn't it be better to keep it a consistent 4-lane freeway spur?

Looking at the maps, are you specifically talking about where it becomes one-lane NB briefly?  I presume the idea is to only keep one through lane so that no modifications would need to be considered to the existing bridge over the Susquehanna River.

[Hwy 61 Revisited]

How come 61/147 is a super-two for brief moments? Wouldn't it be better to keep it a consistent 4-lane freeway spur?

Looking at the maps, are you specifically talking about where it becomes one-lane NB briefly?  I presume the idea is to only keep one through lane so that no modifications would need to be considered to the existing bridge over the Susquehanna River.

Yes, I am.

[Roadsguy]

How come 61/147 is a super-two for brief moments? Wouldn't it be better to keep it a consistent 4-lane freeway spur?

Looking at the maps, are you specifically talking about where it becomes one-lane NB briefly?  I presume the idea is to only keep one through lane so that no modifications would need to be considered to the existing bridge over the Susquehanna River.

Yes, I am.

Probably just a combination of not wanting to need to widen the bridges (as 74/171FAN suggested) and traffic volumes simply not warranting it yet. It could also just as much be about not wanting to widen the current trumpet bridge over 11/15 any more than they already will. I don't know what the projected volumes will be for each lane, but I imagine there's also going to be a fair amount of traffic from the bridge heading just to northbound US 11 to get to Northumberland (or even Danville) without having to go through all of Sunbury on soon-to-be-old PA 147.

What surprises me more is that southbound 61/147 will be two lanes through, despite both ramps from the current 11/15 merging into it without a real merge lane. This has been the case on all three preliminary designs I have saved (2008, 2017, and 2018).

[RevZimmerman]

Here's a nice update on the progress of the Susquehanna River bridge construction that is part of the project:

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/12/after-5-years-the-nearly-mile-long-central-susquehanna-valley-thruway-bridge-is-basically-completed.html

[vdeane]

I wonder what's going to take them so long... based on how things looked at the CSVT meet two and a half years ago, the progress would look more like something to be finished around now, not two years from now.  How long does it take to pave the road and tie in to the existing freeway?

[Ketchup99]

A long time. Have you met PennDOT? 

[74/171FAN]

The CSVT is mentioned at the end of the District 3 construction update.  Basically, everything but the roadway paving contract is done for the northern section.

https://www.penndot.gov/regionaloffices/district-3/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3290

(15-88A) Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project (CSVT), first contract, River Bridge connecting Route 147 in Point Township, Northumberland County, with Route 15 in Union Township, Union County. Completion will be in 2020, contract cost is $156 million.

(15-88B) CSVT, second contract, earthwork and structures for the new alignment of Route 147 from the river bridge to the existing four-lane section of Route 147 in Point and West Chillisquaque Townships, Northumberland County. Completed in 2019; $61 million.

(15-88J) CSVT, third contract, earthwork and structures for the Route 15 interchange just south of Winfield in Monroe Township, Snyder County, and Union Township, Union County. Completed in 2019; $37 million.

(15-88C) CSVT, fourth contract, paving of the entire Northern Section of CSVT, south of Winfield in Monroe Township, Snyder County to south of Montandon in West Chillisquaque Township, Northumberland County. Completion in 2022, contract cost is $52 million. Upon completion, the Northern Section will be opened to traffic while the Southern Section is still in development.

Final design is ongoing for CSVT's Southern Section, which will connect Route 15 south of Winfield to Routes 11/15 north of Selinsgrove within Monroe Township and Shamokin Dam Borough, Snyder County. In January 2019, the project team received environmental clearance for modifying roughly 2 miles of the project alignment to avoid the fly ash waste basins near Shamokin Dam. With environmental clearance issued, the following major activities must be completed prior to the start of construction: right-of-way acquisition, utility relocations, permitting, and preparation of final plans and bid documents.

It is currently anticipated that construction of the Southern Section will begin in 2022 and will be completed by 2027.

Total preconstruction and construction cost based on year-of-expenditure for CSVT overall is $865 million.

[74/171FAN]

Another CSVT Update as it resumes this year.

[webny99]

Another CSVT Update as it resumes this year.

Nice! Glad to see the bridge is complete and the rest of the project is still progressing.

[74/171FAN]

Overhead structures are starting to be installed for the CSVT.

EDIT (4-30-2021): 4-30-2021 Update

EDIT (5-7-2021):  5-7-2021 Update

EDIT (6-11-2021):   6-11-2021 Update

[webny99]

Street View on PA 147 and Ridge Road has been updated, showing some of the project's progress!

View of the new river bridge (future PA 147) from existing PA 147
Looking southwest across the river

New terminus of Ridge Road as seen from existing PA 147
Eastbound approach to the new Ridge Road interchange
Westbound approach to the new Ridge Road interchange


And finally, a few interesting vantage points from the northern end of the project:

Temporary PA 147, looking south at where the new freeway will diverge
New bridge over Chillisquaque Creek
Twinned section of PA 147

[74/171FAN]

I saw this morning while browsing through ECMS at work that the earthwork contract for the southern section of the CSVT is currently scheduled to be let in December of this year. 

[Crown Victoria]

The northern section of the CSVT will open a bit earlier than expected. Work on the southern section is slated to begin this spring.

https://www.wkok.com/csvt-section-to-open-to-traffic-earlier-than-scheduled/

[webny99]

The northern section of the CSVT will open a bit earlier than expected. Work on the southern section is slated to begin this spring.

https://www.wkok.com/csvt-section-to-open-to-traffic-earlier-than-scheduled/

Nice! Can't wait!

[ixnay]

The northern section of the CSVT will open a bit earlier than expected. Work on the southern section is slated to begin this spring.

https://www.wkok.com/csvt-section-to-open-to-traffic-earlier-than-scheduled/

Nice! Can't wait!

I assume that's the red portion of the project as portrayed on this map.

http://www.csvt.com/maps/pdfs/view-route-designation-map.pdf

[webny99]

The northern section of the CSVT will open a bit earlier than expected. Work on the southern section is slated to begin this spring.

https://www.wkok.com/csvt-section-to-open-to-traffic-earlier-than-scheduled/

Nice! Can't wait!

I assume that's the red portion of the project as portrayed on this map.

http://www.csvt.com/maps/pdfs/view-route-designation-map.pdf

Yep, it is.

On a more technical project note, I just realized that County Line Road, which is being realigned as part of the project, will have to remain unconnected until the southern section is complete. The current configuration with a disjointed County Line Road will have to stay as-is to accommodate southbound traffic coming off the new bridge (see the ramp in the very bottom right corner of
this image). I would assume the completed interchange, as shown here, will be the very last thing to be finished once the southern section opens and thru traffic no longer has to use the connector ramp.

[Crown Victoria]

Another article about the CSVT, but with an interesting tidbit at the end:

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/01/traffic-will-be-using-new-nearly-mile-long-bridge-over-the-susquehanna-river-by-late-summer-penndot.html

[froggie]

^ Possibly.  Or they could be referring to what happens at the I-80 interchange.  Hard to tell which way from the article wording.

[webny99]

Hmm. Here's the sentence:

The thruway is expected to reduce the amount of through traffic on Route 15 in the Lewisburg area because Route 147 – which will become Interstate 180 – will be a four-lane limited access highway north to Williamsport.

Given that you could replace "will become" with "becomes" and it would be correct, I would lean towards this being a typo/grammatical error, rather than a harbinger of an I-180 extension.

[74/171FAN]

Hmm. Here's the sentence:

The thruway is expected to reduce the amount of through traffic on Route 15 in the Lewisburg area because Route 147 – which will become Interstate 180 – will be a four-lane limited access highway north to Williamsport.

Given that you could replace "will become" with "becomes" and it would be correct, I would lean towards this being a typo/grammatical error, rather than a harbinger of an I-180 extension.

There is no indication of an I-180 extension happening.  The signage plans on the CSVT Website have indicated that for years.  This truly sounds like a typo at worst.

[MATraveler128]

Isn't that basically the I-99 extension into New York?

[74/171FAN]

Isn't that basically the I-99 extension into New York?

No, I-99 is supposed to follow I-80 and US 220 to US 15 and follow US 15 to New York.

[Roadsguy]

Hmm. Here's the sentence:

The thruway is expected to reduce the amount of through traffic on Route 15 in the Lewisburg area because Route 147 – which will become Interstate 180 – will be a four-lane limited access highway north to Williamsport.

Given that you could replace "will become" with "becomes" and it would be correct, I would lean towards this being a typo/grammatical error, rather than a harbinger of an I-180 extension.

There is no indication of an I-180 extension happening.  The signage plans on the CSVT Website have indicated that for years.  This truly sounds like a typo at worst.

It certainly wouldn't be the first time a last-minute designation change like this has happened, though I'm certainly not aware of PennDOT ever doing anything like that, and making the entire road from Selinsgrove to Williamsport I-180 would make far too much sense for PennDOT to consider.