PennDOT is now planning improvements to three interchanges on I-376 (Parkway West), specifically, the Banksville Road/West End (http://www.projects.penndot.gov/projects/Reports/ProjectReport.aspx?ProjectID=97028&ReportType=TipAndTyp), Green Tree/Mt. Lebanon (http://www.projects.penndot.gov/projects/Reports/ProjectReport.aspx?ProjectID=97029&ReportType=UnderDevelopment) and Carnegie (http://www.projects.penndot.gov/projects/Reports/ProjectReport.aspx?ProjectID=97027&ReportType=UnderDevelopment) interchanges.
I was unable to bring up those links. Can you kind of describe the improvements.
So I got a written description of the improvements: Eastbound traffic will be able to exit to 51 before Banksville merges on to 376 via a flyover. Woodville would get real on and off ramps. At Greentree, it would be a regular diamond with Greentree Road. In Carnegie, the on ramp EB would have a significantly longer merge area.
These are all good and needed improvements. Do you know where these Woodville ramps are going? I'd prefer to see ramps built from PA 51 NB to Shaler Street and the Woodville connection at the I-79 interchange removed.
I have also now read that the new on ramp at Carnegie to EB 376 will eliminate the use of local streets and involve passing through the next trestle bay to the south of the existing mainline pass through. Further, the new ramp will become the climbing lane that currently exists. I wounder if this could free up enough space to punch 6 lanes through the existing mainline trestle bay.
Hip Hip Hooray - though how the hell they will build a flyover ramp at 51 I can't wait to see. It'll go a long way from when they used to have a traffic cop sit at the bottom of the hill controlling traffic. (I have that article at home from one of Jeff Kitsko and myself research trips to the Carnegie Library.)
I wonder if they'll shift the highway a bit and involve the old Parkway center mall ramps and area. I guess until we see drawings or if anyone can go to a public meeting or two.
As for the others if it is in preliminary design a lot can change.
Whatever they do to the interchanges, I hope they account for future widening of the highway.
Quote from: Gnutella on January 06, 2017, 11:49:45 PM
Whatever they do to the interchanges, I hope they account for future widening of the highway.
It seems to depend on the scope of work needed for the project at hand. When they have to build new bridges, PennDOT seems good about leaving space for future widening (like at Settler's Cabin interchange). If they can rehab and reconfigure an existing structure, though, they'll do that even if it prevents future widening (like US 22/PA 60 interchange reconfiguration).
When do these projects start?
According to the link in the original post, the Banksville Road/West End interchange is in final design right now, and construction will begin in December 2019.