WILKES-BARRE — PennDOT District 4 Executive Richard N. Roman, P.E. this week said the 2022 construction season included the infusion of additional federal transportation investments and continued management of an infrastructure system covering 4,000 miles of roads and 2,100 bridges across six counties.
“Our design, construction and maintenance teams, along with many external partners, came together to find innovative solutions, executed most projects ahead of schedule, and kept the focus on safety for the traveling public and our employees at all times,” Roman said, noting the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s (BIL) assistance in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties.
Roman said the improvements include projects supported and accelerated by the BIL. He said in 2022 alone, the BIL is bringing at least $49.6 million in funding to the District 4 region to be allocated by the department and its local Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organization (MPO/RPO) partners:
• Lackawanna Luzerne Transportation Study (LLTS) MPO received at least $21.8 million.
• Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) MPO received at least $12.1 million.
• Northern Tier RPO received at least $13.9 million more.
• Wayne County received at least $1.8 million more.
The district opened bids for 42 contracts totaling nearly $298 million in value. Of those contracts, 26 were for roadway work and 16 were for bridge work.
More than 371 miles of paving and 599 miles of seal coating (oil and chip) were completed in the district in 2022.
Work was performed on 28 state-owned bridges by contractors. This included replacing or rehabilitating 20 bridges and preserving eight bridges.
Additionally, department-force bridge crews worked on 118 bridges. The district has been able to stretch resources by using in-house capabilities for highway and bridge improvements.
Some of the largest are multi-year projects that started prior to 2022 in Luzerne County:
• $1.9 million — Rehabilitation on Route 11 over Mill Creek Bridge and the Norfolk Southern, Reading, Northern, and Blue Mountain Railroad in the Borough of Dupont. Construction will continue through 2022.
• $17 million — Roadway extension on Route 424 in Hazle Township. Construction will continue through 2024.
• $6.5 million — Paving and surface treatment on Routes 18, 1013, 1015, 1029, 25, 27, 28, 2020, 2035, and 3030 in various municipalities. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $4.7 million — Resurfacing on Routes 315, 1014, 1019, 2013, 2022, and 3021 in various municipalities. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $1.3 million — Safety improvement project on Route 309 in Wilkes-Barre Township. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $6 million — Bridge preservation on I-81, Route 11, and Route 309 in various municipalities. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $1.9 million — Resurfacing on Route 315 in the Borough of Laflin, Plains Township, and Jenkins Township. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $9.3 million — Resurfacing on Routes 11, 19, 92, and 309 in various municipalities. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $7.3 million — Bridge preservation on I-81 in Hanover Township, Wilkes-Barre Township, and the Borough of Ashley. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $214,000 — Route 437 in Wright Township, Roadway Emergency Flood Project from Hurricane Ida. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $716,000 — Intersection improvement project at Route 2015 and Route 2004 in Plains Township. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $1.4 million — Route 2007 in the City of Wilkes-Barre, Pedestrian Safety Improvement Project. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $4.7 million — Railroad Bridge preservation on Route 29 over Susquehanna River in Plymouth Borough. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $8.3 million — Surface improvement on Routes 315, 424, 1029, 1035, 2024, 2040, 2042, 2045, 2049, and 3017 in various municipalities. Construction will continue through 2023.
• Pipe replacement on Route 1043 and Route 1014 in Dallas Township. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $577,000 — Bridge replacement on Route 2035 over I-81 in Pittston Township. Construction will continue through 2024. $5.5 million;
• $5.4 million — Concrete paving repair on I-80 and I-81 in various municipalities. Construction will be completed in 2023.
• $2.3 million — Route 3006 and Route 3008 in Conyngham Township, Base Repair Project. Construction will be completed in 2022.
• $4.5 million — Route 93 and Route 309 in Sugarloaf Township, West Hazelton Borough, City of Hazleton, and Butler Township, Mircosurfacing Project. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $8.6 million — Route 309 over Route 2022 in the City of Wilkes-Barre and Plains Township, Bridge Preservation Project. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $1.2 million — Culvert replacement on Route 3007 over Little Wapwallopen Creek in Slocum Township. Construction will be completed in 2022.
• $805,000 — Bridge replacement on Route 92 over Lewis Creek in Exeter Township. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $12 million — Culvert replacement on Route 1012 over a Branch of Harvey’s Creek Project in Jackson Township. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $1 million — Culvert replacement on Route 1048 over Harvey’s Creek in Lehman Township. Construction was completed in 2022.
• $2,7 million — Bridge replacement on Route 3014 over Nescopeck Creek in Nescopeck Township. Construction will continue through 2023.
• $797,000 — Culvert replacement on Route 1025 over Hicks Creek in Exeter Township. Construction was completed in 2022.