Transportation project costs reach $82M mark
Transportation planners are on an aggressive schedule over the next four years to improve area highways, bridges and other modes of transit.
“We are being ‘aggressive,’ with 67 projects including highway construction, bridge repair and replacement, intersection safety improvements on a draft Transportation Improvement Plan,” said Mark Murawski, transportation supervisor for Lycoming County, during Monday’s meeting of the Williamsport Area Transportation Study.
The group reviews transportation projects with local and state officials.
In all, $82 million is on the table for approval over the next four years of the proposed plan list, he said.
“To do all 67, it will take another $62 million,” Murawski said. “It’s really a $145 million commitment to finish what we started.”
Attention to bridges was highlighted as a critical infrastructure improvement goal. The goal is to see zero percent structurally deficient state bridges, Murawski said.
“We also must allocate money to keep them (bridges not on the list) from becoming structurally deficient and unsafe,” he said. “We have to have money to keep them from becoming on the bubble.”
Bridge replacements and repairs specified included the English Center suspension bridge restoration estimated at $5.1 million and scheduled for additional work in 2020.
The bridge over Glade Run in Muncy on Route 405 is a $1 million project eyed for 2020. The work falls in line with efforts by the Muncy Resiliency project in terms of reducing flooding risk with design.
“During the highway projects, it is important for the public to know we will try to coordinate the work not to fall during special events, such as the Little League World Series in mid-August,” he said.
Additionally, crews will do nighttime work when appropriate, according to T.J. Cunningham, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.