Route 220 work causes headaches for motorists

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LOCK HAVEN - It seems like dump trucks, backhoes, pavers and yellow-shirted workers have taken over the area, as one of the most active road construction seasons in recent memory is causing nightmares for motorists.

It's for sure that the end result of all the road and bridge work will be a smoother, safer ride, but it's hard for drivers to swallow the daily detours and delays during the busiest travel time of the year.

Local drivers, as well as those from outside the area just passing through Clinton County, are finding it slow-going, especially on Route 220, where an $18.6 million project is underway to repair 14 miles of the highway from the Salona to Pine Creek exits.

And it doesn't look like it will get better any time soon, as that job is expected to last well into next summer, according to PennDOT Clinton County Maintenance Manager Pete Smeltz. However, Smeltz said the lane closures on Route 220 will end during the winter.

"It's a busy summer. There are some concerns, but there are a lot of good things happening in Clinton County," Smeltz said. "For the most part, you will find a pothole-free road that will ride much, much, much more smooth than you have right now."

While the ride will be much smoother when completed, Smeltz warned it may not be the prettiest roadway if PennDOT doesn't find enough money to overlay the road with blacktop.

"The public will see different-colored concrete... black patches and white patches. Don't let that deceive you ... judge the condition of the road," he said again emphasizing the smoothness of the ride that motorists will find when the project is done.

Due to cost concerns, the contractor, Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc., is removing concrete on the road only where it has been completely deteriorated, Smeltz explained. Other concrete slabs will be repaired with blacktop.

The goal is to have a completely repaved road next year, Smeltz said. He said he'll be meeting with district engineers to try to find money to repave the road right after the current project is finished.

"That would all fit together nicely," he said.

One area prioritized for blacktop paving is a two-mile stretch from the Avis to Pine Creek exits. Smeltz said that section was built several years before the rest of the highway and is deteriorated more than the rest of the road.

While the contractor continues to repair the concrete there, PennDOT has submitted an application to the federal government to help fund the overlaying of that section, he said.

"We'll do the repairs, open the road up for the winter and by next spring, there will be money allocated to pave that last piece of road between Avis and the Lycoming County line," Smeltz said.

More significant, however, are repairs to the highway's bridges, most of which can't be seen by the public.

"That's critical to our infrastructure and costs a lot of money," Smeltz said. "People don't see those repairs ... they are underneath, but it needs to be done."

In addition, he said the project will improve lighting at the Salona and Lock Haven interchanges and replace all signs.

"It should be a pleasant improvement to have well-lit intersections at Salona and Lock Haven," he said.

SALONA BRIDGE

One aspect of that job - repairing the bridge over Fishing Creek just past the Salona exit - is causing the most concern for drivers. That job should be completed by Aug. 1.

Many travelers coming off Interstate 80 find themselves at a dead-end just past the Belles Springs crossroads, as Route 220 is closed to traffic from there to the Salona exit of Route 220.

Smeltz said while Hawbaker placed signs on I-80 warning traffic about the road closure, motorists have been complaining.

"We did call our contractor and asked him Tuesday of last week (July 8) to put more signs on I-80," he said. "We had enough complaints registered where we added some additional signs. To my knowledge, there were more message boards put up along with additional signs."

The official detour around the work, Smeltz said, takes traffic off I-80 at the Lamar exit and reroutes traffic down Route 64 to the Salona interchange with Route 220. Many locals, however, are foregoing the long detour and taking either the Loganton exit and going down Long Run Road (Route 477), or getting off the Lock Haven exit and going through Rote to Salona.

"Locals are using that route (Route 477), but we don't want to see commercial truck traffic on that road, and going on Long Run Road through Rote and Salona... It's too curvy and there are weight restrictions on the one bridge," Smeltz said.

"Also, we don't want traffic going through Mackeyville. Fishing Creek Road is also very curvy. It doesn't have bridges with weight restrictions, but there is one at Cedar Run that only has one lane. We don't want to see trucks there either."

Smeltz said PennDOT and the contractor had hoped to repair the Route 220 bridge without detouring traffic, but it was impossible.

"I think the work there is going really well. We tried our best to avoid it, but we're going to get through that OK. We got through the Flemington bridge repainting job two years ago and we'll get through this."

Meanwhile, Smeltz said the rest of Route 220 is not expected to be completed until next summer.

The Route work includes repairing "rotten" concrete, and may also involve four inches of repaving next year, if there is enough money in the budget, he said.

"Our intention is ... we'll see how it holds up in future years, but very soon, in the near future, through another contract, we may consider overlaying 220 in a two-phase project," he said. "But, at this time, with the budget crunch in 2008-09, we won't see the available funds to overlay it right now.

"We still feel in a couple of winters, what we do now may be ruined if it's not done with blacktop," he continued.

He pointed to the significant hike in the cost of bituminous, which has in turn increased the cost of laying new blacktop on roads.

Smeltz estimated one mile of new blacktop, four to five inches thick, would cost between $90,000 and $100,000, with the project not limited to just the blacktop on the road. He said the shoulders and ramps would also have to be paved and all associated guiderails would have to be raised to meet specifications. In addition, he noted raising the roadway four to five inches could also impose new height restrictions on underpasses.

"Paving 220 is going to be expensive," he said.

OTHER PROJECTS

Meanwhile, work continues on two projects on the Renovo Road. The first is installing a new retaining wall at Baker's Run at a cost of $1.2 million. The other is a "highway betterment project" between North Bend and Renovo, bid out at $2.8 million.

Smeltz said those projects are ahead of schedule. The retaining wall will be completed by Aug. 1, with the work near North Bend expected to be nearly completed in time for the Flaming Foliage Festival in Renovo in October.

Another project in the pipeline is the Queen's Run bridge replacement project near Farrandsville, with bids out and construction expected to start later this summer, Smeltz said.

That work, he said, should extend into mid-summer next year, with traffic going over the current bridge while the new bridge is being constructed. Smeltz noted that traffic may be disrupted for a day or two during the transition between the old and new bridges.

Also, Smeltz said, a project to replace the bridge on Laurel Run Road near the Laurel Run Church should also start later this year.