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Mainline Traffic Shifts Scheduled for I-81 Widening Project between Exits 70 and 72 in Dauphin County

HARRISBURG, Pa.– Expect delays on Interstate 81 in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County. Both the north and southbound lanes will shift to the right for ...
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HARRISBURG, Pa.– Expect delays on Interstate 81 in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County.

Both the north and southbound lanes will shift to the right for work to begin on the median, through the construction area, between I-81 Exit 70 (Interstate 83) and Exit 72 (Mountain Road/Linglertown).

To separate the moving traffic from the construction work, a concrete median barrier will be put in place, in the left lane.

The speed limit will remain at 45 miles per hour through the construction zone.

  • On Sunday night, April 30, starting at around 9 PM, northbound traffic will be shifted in a single lane to the right shoulder as construction crews set up the new northbound traffic pattern. Traffic will be restored to two northbound lanes – utilizing the right lane and right shoulder — in the new traffic pattern by 6 AM.

 

  • On Monday night, May 1, the same procedure will take place in the southbound direction — starting at around 9 PM, southbound traffic will be shifted in a single lane to the right shoulder as construction crews set up the new southbound traffic pattern. Southbound I-81 will be restored to two southbound lanes in the new traffic pattern by 6 AM, utilizing the right lane and right shoulder.

 

  • Construction crews will work through the week to install temporary concrete barrier, starting first in the northbound direction, to separate live traffic from the construction work in the median area. The installation of the barrier should take a few days in each direction.

 

  • Emergency pull-offs have been built and will be available to motorists traveling through the construction work zone.

 

  • A note of caution about traveling through the construction work zone: Since the contractor will be working in the median area, motorists traveling through the construction work zone should be alert to construction vehicles and trucks slowing down and turning left from the left lane into the median area and also for slow moving construction vehicles and trucks turning onto the interstate from the median area.
PennDOT has contracted with Hempt Bros., Inc. of Camp Hill, Pa., for $13.6 million to widen this section of I-81 to provide an auxiliary lane in each direction to reduce traffic congestion, improve traffic flow, and also improve safety. Prep work for the project began last fall.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed by the end of June 2018.
Source: PennDOT

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