FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2018
Status Update on Interstate 81 Construction Project in Cumberland County
-- Project is on the home stretch, nearing completion. --
Harrisburg, PA – The contractor for the Interstate 81 construction project between Exit 57 (Route 114) and Exit 59 (Route 581) in Cumberland County resumed work in March, after a winter shutdown. The work has focused on milling (i.e. removing ) the old asphalt and resurfacing the length of the project with new asphalt during the overnight hours between 9 PM and 6 AM. The construction project is on the home stretch and nearing completion. Here is where the project currently stands:
- All mainline paving is complete (six lanes) plus the outside shoulders. The only remaining paving is the bituminous surface treatment (essentially tar and chip) on the inside median shoulders for northbound and southbound I-81. Due to the rain this week, this work has been rescheduled for next week.
- Various subcontractors this week have been installing rumble strips, raised pavement markers (rpms), and thermoplastic legends. This work will continue into next week.
- There is no construction activity from Friday morning, May 25, until next Tuesday, May 29, so as not to interfere with travelers over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
- Next week will involve final traffic line painting, matting and seeding along northbound and southbound I-81, delineator installation and miscellaneous cleanup.
- There are some areas of damaged guiderail that need to be repaired. This will be done after all the contract work is completed.
PennDOT has contracted with Blooming Glen Contractors of Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania, for $19.5 million to widen this section of I-81. Prep work began in September 2016. The bulk of the work took place in 2017, which included 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. This milestone to widen I-81 to three lanes in each direction was achieved last November. There was a winter shutdown, and then work resumed in mid-March. The project was originally scheduled to wrap before the end of this month, but additional work items and weather delays due to the unusually cool spring and rain this month have moved the project’s completion to early-to-mid-June. This portion of I-81, including both directions, carries an average of around 72,000 vehicles a day.
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway 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 860 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.
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