Nighttime Restrictions on Interstate 70

PennDOT District 12 will be starting the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) project in South Strabane Twp. As this project gets ready to start, we would like to remind motorists to protect themselves and our workers by obeying posted speed limits on every road, all the time.

Starting on Monday, Sept. 22 motorists will encounter nighttime road closures between 8 pm and 6 am on Interstate 70 between the Route 136 interchange and Interstate 79 north and on Route 19 from Trinity Point to Oak Springs Road. Motorists need to be alert for changing traffic patterns. Traffic will be restored to normal flow during daylight hours.

The restrictions will allow crews to begin widening Interstate 70 from Route 136 to Interstate 79 North and preparing for the project.

The contractor on this $51.3 million project is Golden Triangle Construction Company, Inc. This project is for the first DDI in Pennsylvania and is situated at Interstate 70 from the North Junction with Interstate 79 to Route 136 (Beau Street) Interchange in East Washington Borough and South Strabane Township, Washington County.

This project is the first phase of the Department’s plan to provide three lanes in each direction on Interstate 70 between the I-79 North and South Junctions. This particular project involves the widening of Interstate 70 from two lanes to three lanes from the North Junction to the Beau Street interchange. The project also involves the widening of the I-70 westbound ramp to I-79 northbound to two lanes at the North Junction (Exit 18) and the reconstruction of the Murtland Avenue Interchange (Exit 19). The Beau Street Interchange (Exit 20) at the eastern end of the project will remain as it exists today. Route 19 between the Oak Spring Road and the Trinity Point Drive intersections will be upgraded as part of the interchange reconstruction.

The existing cloverleaf interchange at the Murtland Avenue will be reconstructed into a DDI. The DDI is a newer type of interchange design that will cross traffic on Route 19 to the opposite side of the roadway within the interchange. The primary benefit of the DDI will be to move traffic more efficiently through the interchange. Although this is anticipated to be the first of its kind in Pennsylvania, over thirty DDI have been implemented in the United States with more than 100 DDI in study or design phases in a total of 44 states.

To test drive the new interchange design, go tohttp://tinyurl.com/PennDOT12-DDI or visit the department’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/pennsylvaniaDOT.

To receive a copy of a pamphlet explaining the DDI, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Press Office, PennDOT, 825 North Gallatin Avenue Ext., Uniontown, PA 15401.