PennDOT’s 2016 plans for District 10, which includes Clarion County, are ambitious.
PennDOT employees in the district are scheduled to seal more than 100 miles of roads this year, and statewide PennDOT will begin more than 200 bridge replacements as part of the Rapid Bridge Replacement Program.
PennDOT engineers and executives presented this information Friday in Clarion as part of the 2016 District 10 transportation outreach program.
Various reconstruction projects were detailed early on in the meeting, often concerning bridge replacements and road resurfacing. Similar plans for area bridges and roads were also detailed by engineer Stephen Geidel for 2017 through 2019.
Highlights from the 2016 maintenance portion of the event include the announcement of the replacement of 260 bridges in the state – finishing a projected 200 of those projects within the year.
This effort is an extension of the Rapid Bridge Replacement Program that was approved in 2013 to design, build, finance and schedule maintenance for a total of 558 structurally deficient bridges across the state, many of which are in District 10.
Clarion County maintenance manager Josh Clinger reported that 47 bridges were replaced and open to traffic as part of the program in 2015, so 200 finished projects this year is a lofty goal for all of PennDOT.
PennDOT employees from Jefferson and Clarion counties will also be working together this summer with a variety of road maintenance goals in mind.
Because the $1,123,000 budget for winter maintenance is not expected to be used completely due to recent warmer weather, all surplus funds, as a result, will go toward more permanent summer road maintenance.
After showing safety improvements on slopes on Route 2012 and the intersection of Route 388 and Knox Road, the replacement of Reids Run Bridge on Route 2003 was presented as a future summer priority.
Improving roads will also be on the summer agenda, including:
– 13.4 miles of department force paving
– 3.4 miles of recycled asphalt
– 84.3 miles of seal coating
– 143 miles of shoulder cutting
– 1,025 feet of pipe replacement
– 3,454 feet of parallel pipe installation
– 107.6 miles of crack sealing
– 1,100 feet of underdrain
– 25,100 feet of ditch cleaning
– 61 miles of Interstate 80 mowing
Guests raised concerns in a question and answer session at the conclusion of the outreach.
Incidents that stood out were Amish buggies at night on Route 322 causing safety concerns for some residents and falling rocks on Route 58 in Foxburg, where it was reported by borough officials that some vehicles must veer into the other lane to avoid scraping up against the rocky wall.
Five PennDOT panelists presented Friday’s outreach program. They included Geidel, Clinger, district executive Joseph P. Dubovi III, assistant design executive Brian Allen and assistant maintenance executive George W. McAuley Jr.