Motorists on the Interstate 70 corridor in Rostraver can expect to drive on a radically revamped Route 51 interchange by the time the PennDOT construction season comes to an end.
To the west on the interstate, a phased four-year reconstruction of the Arnold City interchange, also in Rostraver, is just getting underway.
“This area is getting a lot of attention,” PennDOT District 12 Executive Rachel Duda said of the township.
The work at the Arnold City exit is among 37 major highway and bridge projects District 12 officials plan to begin this year in the four counties under their jurisdiction — Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Greene.
The Route 51 interchange is among 35 additional projects that are continuing from previous construction seasons.
The combined work this year represents an anticipated cost of more than $250 million, according to PennDOT.
Bill Beaumariage, assistant District 12 executive for construction, said the new Diverging Diamond incarnation of the Route 51 interchange should be substantially completed this year.
“We’ll still have some touch-up work to do in the next year, but we will be opening up to full traffic this year,” he said.
Work is underway to construct two new side-by-side bridges carrying Route 51 over the interstate. Two-way traffic is flowing temporarily on one bridge while beams were to be set in place this week for the second bridge.
When the $120.6 million project is finished, two lanes of northbound traffic will use the westernmost of the two bridges and southbound traffic will use the other span.
The opposing lanes of Route 51 traffic will switch to the opposite side of the road and back again through intersections with traffic lights. That will allow drivers to turn left onto I-70 without passing in front of oncoming vehicles.
Tied in with work on the Route 51 interchange, crews are rehabilitating the Matthew Smelser Bridge that carries I-70 over the Youghiogheny River a short distance to the east.
And, Beaumariage said, “We will have reconstructed two miles of I-70 and over a mile of Route 51.”
The interstate is getting a wider median. Finley Road has been relocated to intersect with Route 51 at a traffic signal across from Route 981.
Finley Road also will see changes at the Arnold City interchange, according to Duda. A new roundabout intersection will connect that road to the I-70 eastbound on- and off-ramps and a bridge that carries Indian Hill Road over the interstate.
“Compared to a typical four-way intersection, (roundabouts) add much more traffic capacity,” Duda said.
Motorists passing through a roundabout yield to oncoming traffic, rather than coming to a complete stop at a red light or stop sign.
The project includes reconstruction of the Indian Hill bridge and a 1.75-mile stretch of I-70, which will be widened.
Interchange open house planned
PennDOT recently awarded the contract for the Arnold City project to Golden Triangle Construction, at a cost of $88.75 million.
An open house meeting is set for 5 p.m. April 22 at Rostraver Central Fire Department on Fells Church Road to inform the public about construction phases of the project that are expected to extend through September 2028.
“There’s going to be a lot of shifting of traffic through the years,” Arnold City project manager Gary Ferrari said. “Through all these phases, we have to maintain two lanes of traffic in both directions on I-70.”
He said work this year will focus on the southern side of the interstate, including development of the roundabout. In 2026, the focus is expected to shift to the north of I-70, including the westbound ramps.
“The merging lanes will be much longer,” said Duda. “They’ll be up to standard criteria.”
The interchange will retain its standard “diamond” format. But, at the suggestion of township officials, the exit there will be relabeled for Fayette City/Finley Road — instead of Arnold City.
Golden Triangle also will work on a $9.69 million pavement preservation project on a section of I-70 stretching between the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway and Route 906.
Expected to wrap up in October, that project is divided among Rostraver and Belle Vernon and North Belle Vernon boroughs.
Salina Bridge replacement proceeds
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Construction will continue for a second season on a new version of the Salina Bridge, which will be downstream from the existing historic 1906 span that crosses the Kiski River between Bell Township in Westmoreland County and Kiski Township in Armstrong County.
Concrete work is nearing completion on abutments for the replacement bridge, according to Mark Kmetz, assistant construction engineer.
“We’re getting ready to set our new girders,” he said. “That will be a month- to five-week-long process. Then we’ll be putting together the actual concrete deck. That will be in mid to late summer.”
The $33.25 million Salina project is expected to wrap up in the summer of 2027.
Route 981 realignment enters second phase
PennDOT expects in July to let the contract for the second, northernmost section of the Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project — which is meant to improve traffic flow and safety on the Route 981 corridor between Mt. Pleasant and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.
The upcoming 3-mile segment in Unity will veer to the east of existing Route 981, following Hill Churches Road/Bell Memorial Church Road from the Bingham Road intersection in Mt. Pleasant Township north to Route 981 at Airport Road.
Work on this section is projected to continue through November 2028 at a cost of $50 million to $60 million.
Three new roundabouts are planned: at Bell Memorial Church Road and Route 130; at Bell Memorial Church Road and a newly aligned portion of Route 981; and at Route 981 and Airport Road, which will be relocated.
According to PennDOT, work this year will focus on repositioning affected utility infrastructure, with road construction slated to begin next year.
The completed first section of the Route 981 improvement project stretches along 4.5 miles in Mt. Pleasant Township, from the intersection of Route 819 north to the intersection of Route 2023, in the village of Norvelt.
Route 119 safety targeted
Bids will be let in June for safety improvements on a section of Route 119 in Fayette County’s Bullskin and Upper Tyrone townships.
That project has an estimated price tag of up to $65 million, with construction anticipated through October 2027. It’s designed to improve safety on a section of the highway between the Mt. Pleasant-Scottdale and Everson exits, particularly at the McClure Road and Kingview Road intersections.
“These intersections have had multiple fatalities,” Beaumariage said.
He said PennDOT set up a public advisory committee and sought input on plans for “the best way to improve safety and eliminate these fatalities, but also to not bisect the community and to keep the feel of that area.”
The project calls for constructing Connector Road — a new bridge over Route 119 linking Mt. Pleasant Road on the northbound side of the highway and Kendi Road on the southbound side — and a related roundabout.
That will provide a new route for vehicles to make turns and travel among Route 119 and the two side roads while eliminating two traffic signals on Route 119. Kendi Road will be extended to connect with Kingview Road.
A woman was killed near the McClure Road intersection in 2020 after hitting a deer, and a motorcyclist died near the Kingview Road intersection in March 2024. There have been five rear-end collisions at the Kingview Road intersection between 2019 and 2023, according to PennDOT data.
Slide repairs slated
Districtwide PennDOT projects include four slide repairs by Plum Contracting, to be completed by August 2026 at a cost of $2.7 million. Work on a slide on Route 130 in Penn Township will require full closure of the road and a detour.
Other slides that will receive attention are on Route 136 in South Strabane, Route 40 in California and Route 88 in Coal Center.