From Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Photo courtesy of Alex Brinkman on Unsplash
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Engineering District 5 announced on Monday, April 21, that 54 projects are anticipated to start during the 2025 construction season and 126 projects will continue in the six-county, Allentown-based region. These investments support Governor Shapiro’s vision of a safe and reliable transportation network that connects people to opportunity and each other.
“The roads and bridges in this region are important to every person who lives, works, and visits here,” said District 5 Executive Chris Kufro. “This investment in our transportation system is essential for a well-maintained and sustainable transportation system.”
In the first two years of the Shapiro administration, 12,921 miles of roadway were improved, including 4,708 miles of paving: nearly 900 more miles of roadway improved and over 800 more miles paved than in the previous two years. During the same timeframe, work advanced on 1,172 state and local bridges, compared to 998 during the previous two years. Additionally, under this administration, PennDOT and its industry partners repaired more poor-condition bridges than any other state in the nation in 2023 and improved more miles of roadway than at any time in the past decade.
PennDOT will build on this momentum this year and anticipates investing more than $1 billion in the region spanning Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties. This investment includes rehabilitating, reconstructing, and resurfacing 108 miles of highways, as well as improving 133 bridges.
Notable projects that are expected to begin or continue this year by county include:
Berks County
- Reconstructing I-78, including rehabilitating the bridge over the Schuylkill River and upgrading the Route 61 interchange, in Tilden Township and Hamburg Borough, $134.8 million.
- Replacing the I-78 Bridge over Maiden Creek and Route 143 in Greenwich Township, $120 million.
- Improving Route 61, including patching, milling, paving, rehabilitation of three bridges, and the replacement of one bridge in Hamburg Borough and Tilden Township, $30.3 million.
- Improving I-78, including patching, milling, and paving in Tilden and Upper Bern townships, estimated $21.72 million.
- Improving Route 61, including resurfacing, drainage upgrades, and bridge maintenance in Tilden Township, $13.5 million.
- Replacing the Route 183/Schuylkill Avenue bridge over Norfolk Southern Railroad in the City of Reading, $8.47 million.
- Improvements at the intersection of Routes 12 and 73 in Ruscombmanor Township, $5.68 million.
- Improving I-176, including patching, milling, paving, and repairs on two bridges in New Morgan Borough and Caernarvon Township, $5.2 million.
- Milling and paving Route 100 in Bally Borough, Colebrookdale and Washington townships, $4.7 million.
- Replacing the Alleghenyville Road Bridge over I-176 in Robeson Township, $4.6 million.
- Replacing the Weavertown Road Bridge in Amity Township, $4.2 million.
Carbon County
- Replacing the I-80 Bridge over the Lehigh River, Lehigh Gorge State Park, Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, and River Road in East Side Borough, Carbon County, and White Haven Borough, Luzerne County, $120 million.
- Repairs to a retaining wall along Route 209 in Jim Thorpe Borough and Mahoning Township, $8.47 million.
- Rehabilitation of a retaining wall along Hudsondale Street and Hazel Creek, drainage upgrades, guiderail upgrades, and barrier upgrades in Weatherly Borough, $2.8 million.
Lehigh County
- Reconstructing Route 309 at Tilghman Street interchange in South Whitehall Township, $86.47 million.
- Improving I-78, including patching, milling, paving, safety barrier, and drainage improvements in the City of Allentown, Salisbury and Upper Saucon townships, $37.8 million.
- Improving I-78, including patching, milling, paving, safety barrier, and drainage improvements in Upper Macungie and Weisenberg townships, $13.4 million.
- Intersection and roadway improvements on Race Street in Catasauqua Borough, $10.2 million.
- Intersection and roadway improvements on Route 145 in the City of Allentown, $7.36 million.
- Traffic signal improvements on Route 145/MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township, $6.6 million.
- Milling and paving Route 145 in North Whitehall Township, $4.8 million.
- Traffic signal improvements on Route 29 in Salisbury Township, $3.8 million.
- Milling and paving Airport Road in Hanover Township and the City of Allentown, $3 million.
Monroe County
- Realigning and reconstructing the Exit 308/Prospect Street interchange on I-80 in East Stroudsburg Borough, $93.8 million.
- Routes 611 and 715 intersection improvements in Pocono Township, $15 million.
- Milling and paving Route 209 in Hamilton Township, $10.85 million.
- Replacing the Route 209/Route 33 North Bridge over Appenzell Creek in Hamilton Township, $10.2 million.
- Milling and paving Route 115 in Tobyhanna Township, $3.5 million.
- Milling and paving Route 611 in Hamilton, Pocono, and Stroud townships, $2.44 million.
- Milling and paving Business Route 209 in East Stroudsburg Borough, $1.8 million.
- Replacing the Route 33 north and south bridges over Bushkill Creek in Palmer Township and Stockertown Borough, $23.2 million.
- Rehabilitating the I-78 east and west bridges over Easton Road in Lower Saucon Township, $15.8 million.
- Route 248 realignment in Bath Borough, $5.42 million.
- Replacing the Farmersville Road Bridge over Route 22 in Bethlehem Township, $4.34 million.
- Milling and paving Route 191 in Nazareth and Stockertown boroughs, Palmer, and Upper Nazareth townships, $3.52 million.
- Replacing the Lower South Main Street Bridge over Martins Creek in Washington Township, $1.9 million.
- Replacing the Raubsville Road Bridge over an unnamed tributary to Fry’s Run in Williams Township, $1.76 million.
- Milling and paving Route 191 in Bethlehem and Lower Nazareth townships, $1.6 million.
- Traffic signal improvements on Routes 248 and 512 in Bath Borough, $1.2 million.
Schuylkill County
- Reconstruction and safety improvements on Route 61 in Frackville and St. Clair boroughs, Blythe, New Castle, Ryan, and West Mahanoy townships, $115 million.
- Milling, patching, and paving I-81 in Foster, Frailey, Pine Grove, and Tremont townships, $14.47 million.
- Milling and paving Route 54 in Mahanoy, Rush, and Ryan townships, $2.6 million.
Multiple Counties
- Improving I-78 including patching, milling, paving and bridge preservation in Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties, $23.3 million.
- Replacing the Route 329 “Cementon” Bridge over the Lehigh River in Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, and Northampton Borough, Northampton County, $21.7 million.
- Milling, patching, and resurfacing of I-78 west in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, and Lower Saucon Township and the City of Bethlehem, Northampton County, $13.7 million.
- Rehabilitating the Route 873 Bridge over Lehigh River in Washington Township, Lehigh County, and Lehigh Township, Northampton County, estimated $6.9 million.
As construction projects are underway in the region, the traveling public can anticipate seeing many work zones and are urged to keep in mind their safety and the safety of highway workers. When encountering a work zone, please drive the posted speed limit, turn on your headlights, pay close attention to signs and flaggers, and avoid all distractions.
Motorists can check conditions on major roadways 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 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.
Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District5. Find PennDOT news on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
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Source: bctv