ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Motorists traveling on Interstate 81 north or south are advised to be alert for significant traffic delays over the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend between Exit 90 (PA 72) in Union Township, Lebanon County and Exit 104 (PA 125) in Schuylkill County, due to a highway construction project in Pine Grove and Tremont townships in Schuylkill County. I-81 north and south is reduced to a single lane in this area.
Motorists should stay alert, anticipate slow-moving or stopped traffic and if possible seek alternate routes.
A project began in March 2015 to rehabilitate I-81 between the Lebanon County line and Exit 104 (PA 125). Work includes placing an unbonded concrete overlay, interchange improvements at Exits 100 (PA 443) and 104 (PA 125), guide-rail updates, signage updates, new pavement markings, brush/tree cutting, and other miscellaneous construction.
All lanes will be open for the winter in this area of I-81 north and south on or before December 22. After the winter there will be daytime lane restrictions weekdays until the project is complete in May.
An unbonded concrete overlay is a roadway resurfacing process in which a new layer of concrete is poured over an existing layer of pavement with an interlayer between them to break the bond between the two layers. The interlayer allows the layers to expand and contract independently of each other. By allowing the layers to move freely the new concrete surface is less prone to cracking and pavement deterioration.
Hi-Way Paving, Inc. of Hilliard, Ohio is the general contractor on the $43,894,275 project. Work is expected to be complete in May 2017.
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 770 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.
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