FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2018
Construction Work Resuming to Wrap Up I-81 Project This Spring
between Route 114 and Route 581 in Cumberland County
Harrisburg, PA – Construction work resumes Sunday night, March 18, on the Interstate 81 widening project between Exit 57 (Route 114) and Exit 59 (Route 581) in eastern Cumberland County. The focus this year will be to resurface this portion of I-81 with new blacktop. Motorists should be prepared for overnight traffic lane restrictions between 9 PM and 6 AM, with the exception of the extended Easter weekend. This area, including both directions, carries a daily average of 72,003 vehicles.
Starting Sunday night, construction crews will begin base repair to the roadway, which will require single lane traffic in both the northbound and southbound directions. This work requires temperatures above 35 degrees, so nighttime weather conditions will dictate when the construction crews can conduct this work.
Looking ahead to the extended Easter weekend, there will be no traffic lane restrictions starting Thursday, March 29, at 6 AM and continuing until 9 PM on Tuesday, April 3. No night work will occur over this time period.
Beginning at 9 PM on Tuesday, April 3, the contractor anticipates starting its milling operation. Milling refers to the removal of the top layer of blacktop. The contractor plans to mill the entire distance between Route 114 and Route 581 prior to paving with new asphalt. Paving operations are anticipated to start the week of April 8. Paving operations include a “scratch course” and “leveling course” prior to paving the final two inches of the wearing course (also called the “top coat”). The different paving operations should take place through the month of April and possibly into early May. This is night work, which will limit traffic to a single lane in one or both directions.
When final paving is completed, all final traffic lines will be painted and completed along with the installation of raised pavement markers (RPMs), pavement legends, and delineators.
Installation of permanent signing is currently under way and will continue until the end of the project. Daytime work includes the painting of the sound barriers, installation of the right-of-way fencing, the final grading of swales and seeding of the roadsides. These activities will not affect traffic since they are off the roadway.
The work this spring is the remaining part of a PennDOT contract in September 2016 with Blooming Glen Contractors of Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania, for $19.5 million to widen this section of I-81.The project involved extending the northbound on-ramp as an auxiliary ramp between the two interchanges and extending the westbound ramp from Route 581 along southbound I-81 to the interchange with Route 114. These new lanes were opened to traffic last November. The overall project completion is scheduled for late May 2018.
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.
* This section of northbound I-81 carries an average daily traffic of 72,003 vehicles. Trucks account for 24 percent of this traffic volume in both directions. The average daily traffic volume for southbound I-81in this area is 35,247 vehicles. The average daily traffic volume of northbound I-81 is 36,756 vehicles.
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