CLEARFIELD — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that preliminary work to replace a bridge on Westline Road (Route 3006) in Lafayette Township, McKean County, is scheduled to resume Monday.
The bridge spans Kinzua Creek, near the village of Westline. The project will upgrade the status of the bridge from “poor” to “good” and provide a new structure that will be in service for decades.
Normal highway and bridge construction projects in Pennsylvania remain paused as part of the commonwealth’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This project is part of critical work that continues statewide addressing safety needs and work needed to eliminate roadway restrictions that could impede the ability for the movement of life sustaining goods and services
Starting Monday, crews will continue construction of a one-lane temporary roadway that will carry traffic around the work zone as the bridge is replaced. This phase of construction is expected to take at least a month. Traffic will then be routed onto the temporary roadway to allow replacement of the existing bridge to begin. PennDOT will issue an update prior to the change in traffic pattern.
The temporary traffic signals currently enforcing an alternating traffic pattern across the existing bridge will remain in place for the duration of the project.
Overall work will include removal of the existing bridge, construction of the new bridge, roadway reconstruction, drainage upgrades, guide rail replacement, and miscellaneous items. Clearwater Construction, Inc. of Mercer, PA is the contractor for this $2.6 million job. All work is weather and schedule dependent.
The existing bridge is 103 feet long and was built in 1941. It will be replaced with a new, two-span composite beam bridge. Average daily traffic on Westline Road is just under 300 vehicles each day. PennDOT expects the new bridge to be open to traffic in the fall of 2020, with placement of an epoxy overlay and seeding taking place next spring.
