PennDOT plans $200M in improvement projects

PennDOT on Wednesday announced 31 projects are expected to start during the 2026 construction season.

PennDOT District 12 officials announced the state will invest over $200 million to fund bridge and roadway infrastructure projects in the four-county region this year.

During a press conference Wednesday, PennDOT officials were joined by Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Director of Transportation Lillian Gabreski to highlight infrastructure investments.

PennDOT anticipates investing more than $200 million in the region, and PennDOT District 12 will work on 99 miles of roadways and 48 bridges in the next year.

The 31 projects to start in 2026 and the 39 projects to continue into 2026 include parts of Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

District 12 owns and maintains 2,340 bridges, 3,627 miles of roadway, 165 miles of bicycle routes and thousands of additional assets.

The press conference, held at Cedarbrook Golf Course, was within sight of the $121 million Interstate 70/Route 51 Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) project in Rostraver Township and near the $88 million I-70 Arnold City Interchange project.

“Today we are here to showcase Gov. (Josh) Shapiro’s commitment to delivering safe highways and bridges across the Commonwealth, especially here in Southwestern Pa.,” said District 12 Executive Rachel Duda. “It really is an exciting time for construction. When we finally get to construction, it is exciting, and we are happy when the projects are done so the public can make better use of our existing roadway and bridges.”

Under Shapiro’s administration, 19,525 miles of roadway were improved, work has advanced on 1,757 state and local bridges, as well as 845 miles of crack sealing that will be done this summer along with 12 critical slide repairs.

Gabreski talked about how their Transportation Improvement Planning (TIP) program helps plan out these construction projects four years in advance and involves federal funding to create more efficient, and sustainable transportation systems.

She added that it is very exciting to see the projects finally begin construction after receiving state and federal funding. While it can be a pain for residents, Gabreski said it is necessary so everyone can be safe.

“We employ over 50 staff members who are responsible for helping counties, cities, municipalities and townships access nearly $40 billion in state and federal transportation and economic development funding that’s projected to be allocated to our region through 2050,” Gabreski said. “The current 2025 TIP has outlined the investment of $4.5 billion in federal, state and local funding in critical infrastructure projects and public transit in this 10 county region.”

Many of the projects discussed Wednesday were started two or three TIP cycles ago, according to Gabreski, when they were in the beginning stages of design to plan ahead of time. They are currently working on the 2027 TIP schedule with a 30-day public comment period and public meetings.

Fayette County’s public meeting is 1 to 3 p.m. May 11 at 2 West Main Street in Uniontown. Greene County’s meeting is 2 to 4 p.m. May 20 at 129 Jefferson Rd., Waynesburg.

Washington County’s public meeting is 3 to 5 p.m. May 14 at 95 W. Beau St., Washington. Westmoreland County’s meeting is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 28 in Greensburg.

Bill Beaumariage, Assistant District 12 executive for construction, highlighted 10 big projects coming up in several counties aiming to prioritize safety, county bridges and modernizing roadways.

“We’re very excited about this construction season,” Beaumariage said. “We’re anxious to get started. We have 70 active construction projects this year in District 12. We’re very honored to be part of improving our transportation system for our users.”

Fayette County

There are several improvements happening in Fayette County that are going to affect Mon Valley residents, including replacements to the Layton Bridge that holds the Great Allegheny Passage over the Youghiogheny River and the continuation of the Dunlap Creek (Cast Iron) bridge in Brownsville.

The current Layton Bridge, built in 1899, was originally a railroad bridge and only carries one lane of traffic. The bridge is in need of replacement due to age and corrosion, despite past repairs along with some of the area.

“This is something we were anxious to get started with, and if you all have been down there, then you can understand the need for a new structure there,” Beaumariage said. “This fall we start with the replacement of the Layton Bridge with a new structure just upstream from the existing structure.

“Once complete, we will resurface the roadway from the new structure back through Perryopolis all the way to Route 51,” he added. “Once done, it will be a new and modern facility.”

The cast iron bridge rehabilitation is a continuing project to structurally rehabilitate and repair the existing bridge that carries Route 4003 (Market Street) over Dunlap Creek and install a new mid-block crossing and a pedestrian bridge for safety and accessibility. It will cost $8.9 million and is expected to be completed in December of 2025.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, the superstructure was constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1839 as the first cast-iron metal arch bridge in the United States in Brownsville Borough.

“That bridge is still carrying legal load, even though it was built to carry horses and buggies. That’s how amazing the structure is, and amazing engineering feet. It is showing its age, so what we decided to do was completely rehabilitate the structure, and bring it back to what it looked like the day it opened in 1839.”

Beaumariage said contractors have dismantled the structure, have then brought pieces to Carnegie to sandblast them and have been inspecting the pieces with a group of professionals and historians and professionals from Michigan that deal with historic structures.

They are putting the bridge back together this summer, and they moved the pedestrians off the bridge, according to Beaumariage, and they are building a new pedestrian bridge to the upstream side that will allow pedestrian movements and for pedestrians to appreciate the architectural value of the bridge.

“We are looking to have that opened at the end of summer, early fall, so that it will be open to traffic,” Beaumariage said. “There might be a little bit of cleanup here and there, but we are trying to do that as we go because it is going longer than we expected because we tore apart a structure that we had no shop drawings for, so we got into some stuff we didn’t expect.”

There will also be other repairs to other roads and bridges in the county, including milling, paving and patching.

Washington and Greene counties

There are various locations in Washington County that are getting rehabilitated over the next few years.

There will be repairs to Pike Run Bridge in California for about $3 to $4 million. Located in Coal Center, Pike Run Bridge No. 1 carries Water Street, one lane of two-way traffic, over Pike Run and is generally oriented east-west.

The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in January 2023 due to structural deterioration but currently remains open to pedestrian traffic.

For the project, rehabilitation of the entire existing bridge structure will occur, which will involve replacing the superstructure elements and rehabilitating the substructure. Installation of scour protection around the abutments through the addition of riprap will also take place.

The project will be detoured. Water Street, Spring Street, Route 2087 (Poplar Drive), Route 88 (Highpoint Drive), Third Street and Mechanic Street are to be used. The approximate length is 1.2 miles.

Additionally, 1-70 from Bentleyville to PA 519 is scheduled to start April 23 and be completed in August of 2027. There will be asphalt patching, drainage, signing, rock slope repair and more done to the area, and it will be about $20 to $25 million.

“This is a resurfacing and a preservation, and this project is meant to keep the ride safe, keep the road safe until we can get that section of road upgraded as we have other sections of I-70,” Beaumariage said.

Milling and paving will be done throughout the counties to various roads. Repairs will also be done on Route 18 and 19 in Washington Township in Greene County, which is included in other work that is supposed to start in May and be completed in December for about $1.3

million.

Westmoreland County

There are also several projects that will be happening in Westmoreland County, and the biggest ones included the continued work at the Interstate 70 at Route 51 Interchange in Rostraver Township and the Arnold City Interchange.

The first interchange costs $120.66 million, includes widening and reconstructing Interstate 70 to change it to a Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI). This is the second DDI in District 12, and while the road is done, the full project will not be done until around the end of this year.

“As you get toward the end of the year, you will see less roadway impacts and more working offline in cleaning things up,” Beaumariage said.

Basin work has continued in this area along with sidewalk work and there has been placement of a concrete barrier on I-70. Guide rail and shoulder repair was performed, and there will be basin work in the next couple weeks.

The $3.5 million Rostraver Township Pedestrian Bridge is also still in the process over I-70. Driveways for the houses along Route 51 in that area will be paved back to the road over the next two weeks, according to senior assistant construction engineer Dominec Caruso.

“It is going very well on Route 51,” said Caruso. “We were on schedule to switch traffic this coming Monday. I don’t think that is going to happen due to the weather. We are going to switch traffic in the very near future to get everything on I-70 westbound into its permanent alignment. Right now, it’s shifted to the north, so that will be the next big thing happening here.”

Following the new alignment and driveway paving, Caruso said there will be pond conversion and overhead signs put in. Around August, they are milling the connection with Route 51.

On I-70 in June, the dams on the Smithton High-Level Bridge will be replaced, and it will be around $1.5 million in additional work.

“That was something that was not part of this project, but it was something we noticed in the project that they were leaking and putting water down into the structure, so we are going to replace the dams,” Caruso said. “That will be an inconvenience. That was always a problem when we shut down I-70 to two lanes of traffic. We will see backups this year.”

Both interchanges are underway with construction by Golden Triangle Construction Company.

Arnold City, anticipated to be $88.75 million and completed in 2029, will replace the current interchange with a diamond interchange.

A new overpass and a roundabout to the south will improve movements on Indian Hill Road, with some portions closed through August including ramps to help safety in the area for access onto I-70.

May 8 there will be a traffic impact on the Indian Hill Road bridge, where there is a demolition of where demolition of a current interchange is underway, according to Caruso. The size of the crane used to do that needs to have a lane of I-70 shut down during nighttime hours.

They will also be reconstructing I-70 from the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad structure back to State Route 3017, which carries a local road over to the interstate, and they will be replacing that overpass also, according to Beaumariage.

The contractor is currently working on excavation of I-70 westbound entrance/exit ramps, placement of backfill material and various temporary and permanent drainage installations. The Mon Valley Independent got the chance to see the site on Wednesday, where gravel was being moved.

Emphasizing safety

There was an emphasis on safety during Wednesday’s press conference, with State Trooper and Public Safety Officer Kalee Barnhart for the district encouraging drivers to slow down.

Beaumariage and Duda also emphasized the importance of slowing down and paying attention in these construction zones, and for residents to remember that the people working these roads are their neighbors, are mothers/fathers that are keeping the drivers and passengers safe along with themselves.

In District 12 alone from 2020-24, there were 366 crashes in a workzone resulting in 12 serious injuries and five fatalities, according to Duda, who said this all could have been avoided if people took their time, slowed down and paid attention to what was around them.

“We see issues through workzones often,” Barnhart said. “It is extremely important that people give their full attention while driving. Put down their phones, stop the aggressive driving, the speeding.

“We are going to be out there in full force to make sure that doesn’t occur in workzones because these individuals, this is their workplace,” she added. “Behind every barrel and cone is a person who wants to go home to their family. We’re making sure that they do that.”

As construction projects are underway in the region, the traveling public can anticipate seeing many work zones and are encouraged by PennDOT to keep in mind the safety of both them and highway workers.

Conditions on roadways, and what roads are being done can be found at www.511PA.com.