Prepare for more roadwork: These Centre County bridges will be replaced this summer

Get ready for some more roadwork, motorists. There are three bridges in Centre County that will be rebuilt this summer as part of Pennsylvania's Rapid Bridge Replacement Project.

More than 550 structurally deficient bridges are being replaced under the project, which is a partnership between the state Department of Transportation and Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners. Since the project started in 2016, 415 bridges have been replaced and the remaining are expected to be finished by the end of construction season, PWKP traffic manager Andy Dressler said.

The Appalachian Throughway bridge crossing Laurel Run in Port Matilda borough will be removed and replaced from June 14 through October. A one-lane alternating traffic pattern will be in effect. Dressler said one half of the bridge will be built at a time and temporary signals will control traffic.

Work on the Penns Valley Road (state Route 45) bridge that passes over Pine Creek in Woodward is slated to begin July 5 and finish in August. The bridge will be completely closed to traffic, so truck and car detours will be in place. All trucks from Lewisburg to Centre Hall will instead take state Route 192 around the work zone.

"Numerous signs will be out there to try to have trucks avoid the area," Dressler said. "We do not want them coming down to the bridge site because there isn't adequate accommodations for them for turning around."

Other vehicles will utilize Pine Creek and Bower Hollow roads to go around the bridge.

Crews have already started construction on the South Eagle Valley Road bridge crossing Dewitt Run in Unionville borough. Like the Laurel Run bridge, there's a single-lane alternating traffic pattern as the bridge is demolished and rebuilt in two phases, Dressler said. Construction is expected to be completed in October.

These three bridges had originally been slated to be completed by the end of 2017, but Dressler said because both PWKP and PennDOT had a lot of construction projects already on the table, the bridge project schedule was adjusted. The change was made to help alleviate some of the travel delays for motorists, he said. The entire Rapid Replacement Project costs $899 million.

This story was originally published June 9, 2018 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Prepare for more roadwork: These Centre County bridges will be replaced this summer."