Pennsylvania

[Mr_Northside]

What is up with the traffic pattern inside the Wabash Tunnel in Pittsburgh? Why is it only open at certain times to only one direction only?

When the Port Authority rehabbed it for automobile use, they decided it was just a little bit to narrow for 2-way traffic.  In that regard it's usually open in the direction that favors whichever rush hour is applicable.

[noelbotevera]

What was the original plans for the PA 147 freeway (south of Lewisburg)? It looks like there's a stub but there's no clear ROW to the south. Was this a bypass for Chillisquaque or would it have tied into US 15?

My hypothesis: Maybe this had to do with a Lewisburg bypass for US 15?

[74/171FAN]

What was the original plans for the PA 147 freeway (south of Lewisburg)? It looks like there's a stub but there's no clear ROW to the south. Was this a bypass for Chillisquaque or would it have tied into US 15?

My hypothesis: Maybe this had to do with a Lewisburg bypass for US 15?

I thought it always had to do with the CSVT.

[jemacedo9]

What was the original plans for the PA 147 freeway (south of Lewisburg)? It looks like there's a stub but there's no clear ROW to the south. Was this a bypass for Chillisquaque or would it have tied into US 15?

My hypothesis: Maybe this had to do with a Lewisburg bypass for US 15?

I thought it always had to do with the CSVT.

I wondered this also.  Is the currently-in-progress CSVT following the path of the very original proposal?  Or was the proposal different.
And how did the US 15 freeway that runs north and south from I-80 on the west side of the river tie into all of this?  Or was it completely separate and stand-alone (since there aren't any obvious stubs)?

[Roadsguy]

What was the original plans for the PA 147 freeway (south of Lewisburg)? It looks like there's a stub but there's no clear ROW to the south. Was this a bypass for Chillisquaque or would it have tied into US 15?

My hypothesis: Maybe this had to do with a Lewisburg bypass for US 15?

I thought it always had to do with the CSVT.

I imagine the current stub was built with the intention of connecting to the CSVT, but the original PA 147 super-2 is much older. How long had the CSVT been planned rather than just extending the current 11/15 freeway up to I-80?

[74/171FAN]

PennDOT: Lane Restrictions, Traffic Shift Scheduled at I-83 Exit 4 Project in Southern York County

[CentralPAGal]

What was the original plans for the PA 147 freeway (south of Lewisburg)? It looks like there's a stub but there's no clear ROW to the south. Was this a bypass for Chillisquaque or would it have tied into US 15?

My hypothesis: Maybe this had to do with a Lewisburg bypass for US 15?

Presently under construction as part of the larger CSVT/Shamokin Dam bypass project. I believe that portion is supposed to open to traffic next year, actually.

[Alps]

What was the original plans for the PA 147 freeway (south of Lewisburg)? It looks like there's a stub but there's no clear ROW to the south. Was this a bypass for Chillisquaque or would it have tied into US 15?

My hypothesis: Maybe this had to do with a Lewisburg bypass for US 15?

I thought it always had to do with the CSVT.

I wondered this also.  Is the currently-in-progress CSVT following the path of the very original proposal?  Or was the proposal different.
And how did the US 15 freeway that runs north and south from I-80 on the west side of the river tie into all of this?  Or was it completely separate and stand-alone (since there aren't any obvious stubs)?

If you go back a few years to the project beginning there was a thread on this topic. Can't search right now from my phone.

[74/171FAN]

PennDOT:  Chemical Road, I-476 North Ramp to Chemical Road Remain Closed Due to Underground Sinkholes in Plymouth Township

[MASTERNC]

PennDOT:  Chemical Road, I-476 North Ramp to Chemical Road Remain Closed Due to Underground Sinkholes in Plymouth Township

There was a sinkhole that developed on I-76 in King of Prussia (on the westbound collector-distributor roadway) that created a suspension-crunching dip a few weeks ago.  The lane closure caused a traffic nightmare but they fortunately only needed 10 days to repair.  Definitely a recurring issue in this area.

[Roadsguy]

PennDOT:  Chemical Road, I-476 North Ramp to Chemical Road Remain Closed Due to Underground Sinkholes in Plymouth Township

There was a sinkhole that developed on I-76 in King of Prussia (on the westbound collector-distributor roadway) that created a suspension-crunching dip a few weeks ago.  The lane closure caused a traffic nightmare but they fortunately only needed 10 days to repair.  Definitely a recurring issue in this area.

Weren't there also recurring sinkholes during either or both of the reconstruction of the King of Prussia interchange complex in the early 2000s and the construction of the Mid-County interchange in the 1990s? I remember reading about that.

[qguy]

PennDOT:  Chemical Road, I-476 North Ramp to Chemical Road Remain Closed Due to Underground Sinkholes in Plymouth Township

There was a sinkhole that developed on I-76 in King of Prussia (on the westbound collector-distributor roadway) that created a suspension-crunching dip a few weeks ago.  The lane closure caused a traffic nightmare but they fortunately only needed 10 days to repair.  Definitely a recurring issue in this area.

Weren't there also recurring sinkholes during either or both of the reconstruction of the King of Prussia interchange complex in the early 2000s and the construction of the Mid-County interchange in the 1990s? I remember reading about that.

Yes. I worked for PennDOT at the District 6 office nearby during that project. There are bad sinkholes in that area because of the limestone there. I stood next to one of the gaping holes that developed.

Because of the geotechnical investigations, the sinkholes were expected and a temporary grout factory was built on-site to produce the massive quantities of the stuff needed to be injected down into the voids.

[74/171FAN]

Traffic is being fully shifted to the outside lanes on I-83 NB just weekend north of Union Deposit Rd.

PennDOT: Weekend Lane Restriction Scheduled for NB I-83 Project Near Harrisburg

[roadman65]

Why is the Pennsylvania Turnpike now six lanes west of Carlisle?  Is the area around Blue Mountain a new bedroom community for Harrisburg?

The last time I drove on it, it was 25 miles exit less (the second longest gap on the system next to Somerset to Bedford at 36 miles) so I do not see local traffic an issue.  Then it narrows to four lanes east of US 11 closer to the Harrisburg Metro Area.

Is that just to justify keeping tolls or is there really congestion in the rural farmlands?

[Roadsguy]

Why is the Pennsylvania Turnpike now six lanes west of Carlisle?  Is the area around Blue Mountain a new bedroom community for Harrisburg?

The last time I drove on it, it was 25 miles exit less (the second longest gap on the system next to Somerset to Bedford at 36 miles) so I do not see local traffic an issue.  Then it narrows to four lanes east of US 11 closer to the Harrisburg Metro Area.

Is that just to justify keeping tolls or is there really congestion in the rural farmlands?

Because they're widening all the sections they reconstruct to six lanes (at least all the ones not reconstructed before they decided to widen), and for whatever reason decided to reconstruct those sections first over the last decade. I do wish they'd have put that funding toward widening from Valley Forge out to Morgantown, though...

[jemacedo9]

Why is the Pennsylvania Turnpike now six lanes west of Carlisle?  Is the area around Blue Mountain a new bedroom community for Harrisburg?

The last time I drove on it, it was 25 miles exit less (the second longest gap on the system next to Somerset to Bedford at 36 miles) so I do not see local traffic an issue.  Then it narrows to four lanes east of US 11 closer to the Harrisburg Metro Area.

Is that just to justify keeping tolls or is there really congestion in the rural farmlands?

Because they're widening all the sections they reconstruct to six lanes (at least all the ones not reconstructed before they decided to widen), and for whatever reason decided to reconstruct those sections first over the last decade. I do wish they'd have put that funding toward widening from Valley Forge out to Morgantown, though...

The original reconstruction was going to be the original Turnpike section (Irwin to Carlisle).  Then they added some of the higher volume sections as well (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philly areas).

Valley Forge to Great Valley was mired in environmental lawsuits for years, which I think have been resolved but caused expensive re-design?

[Crown Victoria]

Why is the Pennsylvania Turnpike now six lanes west of Carlisle?  Is the area around Blue Mountain a new bedroom community for Harrisburg?

The last time I drove on it, it was 25 miles exit less (the second longest gap on the system next to Somerset to Bedford at 36 miles) so I do not see local traffic an issue.  Then it narrows to four lanes east of US 11 closer to the Harrisburg Metro Area.

Is that just to justify keeping tolls or is there really congestion in the rural farmlands?

Because they're widening all the sections they reconstruct to six lanes (at least all the ones not reconstructed before they decided to widen), and for whatever reason decided to reconstruct those sections first over the last decade. I do wish they'd have put that funding toward widening from Valley Forge out to Morgantown, though...

The original reconstruction was going to be the original Turnpike section (Irwin to Carlisle).  Then they added some of the higher volume sections as well (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philly areas).

Valley Forge to Great Valley was mired in environmental lawsuits for years, which I think have been resolved but caused expensive re-design?

The PA Turnpike has made some interesting decisions as far as where and when it does its reconstruction and widening projects. They need to balance out the needs of the system in the more populated areas with the fact that the original Irwin-Carlisle stretch is now over 80 years old with the remaining unreconstructed segments being somewhat substandard and still having the original pavement underneath (not to mention the fact that just over half of that original stretch carries quite a bit of traffic from I-70). This is why the Blue Mountain-Carlisle segment has been done, and why the stretch just west of Somerset is being done currently, while areas near Philly and Pittsburgh keep waiting.

As far as that Valley Forge segment, the lawsuits have indeed been resolved. The only reason it hasn't gone to construction yet is money...

[74/171FAN]

On PA 320: PennDOT to Rehabilitate 232-Year-Old Trinity Lane (Route 320) Bridge over Gulph Mills Creek in Upper Merion Township

[Roadsguy]

As far as that Valley Forge segment, the lawsuits have indeed been resolved. The only reason it hasn't gone to construction yet is money...

Apparently half of it (they split it into two phases) has gone to construction, technically, but so far it's just tree clearing.

[Mr_Northside]

Why is the Pennsylvania Turnpike now six lanes west of Carlisle?  Is the area around Blue Mountain a new bedroom community for Harrisburg?

The last time I drove on it, it was 25 miles exit less (the second longest gap on the system next to Somerset to Bedford at 36 miles) so I do not see local traffic an issue.  Then it narrows to four lanes east of US 11 closer to the Harrisburg Metro Area.

Is that just to justify keeping tolls or is there really congestion in the rural farmlands?

Because they're widening all the sections they reconstruct to six lanes (at least all the ones not reconstructed before they decided to widen), and for whatever reason decided to reconstruct those sections first over the last decade. I do wish they'd have put that funding toward widening from Valley Forge out to Morgantown, though...

The original reconstruction was going to be the original Turnpike section (Irwin to Carlisle).  Then they added some of the higher volume sections as well (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philly areas).

They apparently figured out during the first string of total reconstruction projects (mostly in eastern Westmoreland County, from New Stanton to Somerset County) that it was conducive to the 6-lane widenings (while those first projects didn't always add lanes, it was still widened - mostly the median).  By the time they do all the shifting to maintain 4 lanes during construction, it becomes cost effective (though still more expensive than just a 4-lane reconstruction) to do 6 lanes.  The PTC website had, and may still have, a little video on the reasoning behind the 6-lane template.

They were going at a pretty good pace, until the financial situation has drastically slowed all the sections down.  The PTC press releases at the time (late 90's) mentioned rebuilding the "original" turnpike sections.   Of course, now, a little over 20 years later, the whole thing (and NE Extension) is older than just the original Irwin - Carlisle was back when they started those 70/76 concurrency sections in Westmoreland Co. - and at this rate it seems it will take decades more.

[74/171FAN]

PennDOT: Wolf Administration Previews 2021 Construction Season for Northwest Region

I am mainly posting this to note that traffic signal timings are being adjusted in Erie to account for the upcoming Bayfront Pkwy project.

[jemacedo9]

As far as that Valley Forge segment, the lawsuits have indeed been resolved. The only reason it hasn't gone to construction yet is money...

Apparently half of it (they split it into two phases) has gone to construction, technically, but so far it's just tree clearing.

The Press Release for the tree clearing (1/22/2021) mentions nothing about it being related to the widening project.  And there haven't been any other announcements about that section.  They did announce via a Press Release for the next widening project near Somerset (MP102-109) on 1/8/2021.  So I don't think anything has officially started in VF yet.

There have been several tree clearing projects all along the mainline over the last 3 years or so.

(This whole mini-thread should really be on the PA Turnpike board.)

[74/171FAN]

PennDOT:  PennDOT Shares Draft Transportation Funding Study for Public Review, Comment

Comments will be accepted until June 1st.

[thenetwork]

PennDOT: Wolf Administration Previews 2021 Construction Season for Northwest Region

I am mainly posting this to note that traffic signal timings are being adjusted in Erie to account for the upcoming Bayfront Pkwy project.

Just out of curiosity -- Are traffic counts along I-90 in PA high enough to begin considering an additional lane (3-lanes) in each direction?  Since this is a total rebuild, this would be the time to consider it, no?

[74/171FAN]

PennDOT: Wolf Administration Previews 2021 Construction Season for Northwest Region

I am mainly posting this to note that traffic signal timings are being adjusted in Erie to account for the upcoming Bayfront Pkwy project.

Just out of curiosity -- Are traffic counts along I-90 in PA high enough to begin considering an additional lane (3-lanes) in each direction?  Since this is a total rebuild, this would be the time to consider it, no?

Definitely not, looking at the Erie County Traffic Volume Map, I-90 does not even get above 36,000 AADT.

Other PennDOT News from today:
PennDOT Announces Start of Construction on I-76 East (Schuylkill Expressway) Slope Repair Project in Montgomery County

Lehigh County: West State Street Closure in Coopersburg  (For an indefinite bridge closure)

Sixth Street Closure Begins Monday in Aspinwall Borough  (For Highland Park Bridge Project)