Allegheny Township officials have been looking at solutions for the traffic issues at the intersection of Route 356 and La Belle Vue Road. Now, they have decided that a roundabout is the best course of action.
“That intersection has traditionally been a high accident area,” Township Manager Greg Primm said. “The roundabout will provide traffic calming and safety to the area, resulting in less accidents.”
Work is underway on the roundabout project, and is expected to be completed in 2025.
Dante Wright, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 12 inspector, said the price tag on the project is $7.7 million, and although construction is on schedule, utility issues may set construction back.
“Currently, all the utilities have relocated the wooden poles for the project, and the existing telecommunication lines need to be transferred onto the new pole locations,” Wright said. “All we can do is suggest to the communications companies that it’s their turn to move on this. We have received little to no communication on when they will begin on this.”
The prime contractor for the project is Ligonier Construction Co.
According to PennDOT, roundabouts offer improved safety to motorists because they reduce vehicle speeds to 25 mph or less and all turns are right turns.
Motorists should plan ahead as the summer shut downs are planned to begin on June 3, and will last until August 27. On August 28, traffic flow will go back to normal for the school year.
The posted northbound Route 356 detour beginning June 3 will start where Route 66 intersects Route 356 in Washington Township. Drivers will be directed to take Route 66 north to the Vandergrift Bridge and through Vandergrift, then onto Route 56 east.
“PennDOT can’t detour onto local and municipal township roads because the average daily traffic would be too much heavy truck traffic on a road not capable of handling that,” Wright said. “If everyone took La Belle Vue Road, we would have to rebuild that road after the project ended.”
The construction zone must be reopened and traffic unrestricted by Aug. 28 to accommodate the reopening of school.
Wright said the six-phase project is expected to be completed by May 3, 2025.
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Source: Triblive.com
