More than a half billion dollars of road work set for the midstate this summer
Photo by Ben Allen/WITF
Gov. Tom Wolf gestures to the Interstate 283/Route 283 interchange behind him, where traffic often backs up during rush hour. The interchange will be reconfigured as part of a reconstruction of 6 miles of Route 283.
(Harrisburg) — Orange cones and signs will be a common sight this summer in the midstate.
More than a half billion dollars in road work is scheduled in eight counties.
Nearly 550 miles of highways will be repaved in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties.
More than 150 bridges will be fixed or replaced.
And Governor Tom Wolf says, one bottleneck will be redone in the next couple of years.
“Who of you has not come down 283 in rush hour and gotten afoul of people who are trying to get on to the Turnpike who come in from Lancaster, who are trying to get on to go to Lancaster from Harrisburg, I mean, and it’s just a mess,” says Wolf.
Wolf pointed behind him, to the interchange in Dauphin County, where Route 283 becomes Interstate 283 and there’s an entrance for the Turnpike.
At $89 million, remaking that interchange is part of the most expensive project for the region – a reconstruction of Route 283 in Dauphin County.
Night work is set to begin next month.
All the road projects are getting financed through Act 89, the 2014 law that has led to higher gas prices but also increased money for transportation construction.
“[All the construction] is a good thing. That means that we are making our transportation network better and we’re making the improvements that are needed. But we need everyone’s patience. A lot of that is on the drivers that are going through those zones,” says PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
