Construction Update: Summer 2019

U.S. 1 Reconstruction Focused on Bridges, Street Road and Turnpike Ramps

Turnpike bridge center pier construction

Construction to rebuild and widen the northbound side of U.S. 1 in Bensalem Township continues this summer with the focus on replacing the northbound side of bridges over Street Road (Route 132), the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Turnpike ramps, and reconstructing the south side of the Street Road Interchange and new ramps to the Turnpike.

Crews will finish the abutments (side support walls) and center piers for the Turnpike overpass in July, followed by the placement of deck beams and deck construction to get underway and continue into the fall.

Excavation for the Street Road Interchange

Construction of the U.S. 1 bridge over the Turnpike ramps will require a slight shift of traffic away from the north abutment later this summer so that support sheeting can be installed for the safe demolition of the abutment and construction of a new abutment. New ramps from U.S. 1 to the Turnpike interchange will be constructed in phases and coordinated with construction of the new overpass.

At the Street Road Interchange, all ramp traffic has been moved to the north side of the interchange, allowing installation of the stormwater drainage pipes and inlets and excavation for new ramps to get underway.

Traffic normally using the now-closed ramps on the south side of the interchange is being directed to the existing ramps to and from U.S. 1 on the westbound side of Street Road. A temporary, signalized intersection has been installed at the base of those ramps to facilitate access to and from eastbound State Road.

Abutment construction also is underway on the northbound side of the new U.S. 1 bridge over Street Road. Beam placement and deck construction is expected to begin later this summer at the completion of the abutments.

Northbound U.S. 1 excavation

Widening on the eastbound side of Street Road also is underway between U.S. 1 and Kingston Way to the east.

Reconstruction on the northbound side of U.S. 1 is ongoing, with activity focused at the northern end of the project where embankments are being graded. Work will pick up this summer at the southern end with installation of drainage inlets and curbing. Work on the northbound side will continue through early 2020, and then shift to the middle of U.S. 1 before moving to the southbound side and ramps.

Access to and from properties located on both sides of U.S. 1 is being maintained during construction. Properties along the northbound side are accessible via a right turn lane that was established on the northbound side of the work zone, or from Street Road. Properties along the southbound side of U.S. 1 remain accessible via U.S. 1, Street Road, or the southbound ramp to Street Road.

Excavation for Street Road Interchange improvements

Current construction on the $94 million project (RC1) is the first of three PennDOT contracts (RC2, RC3) that will improve more than four miles of U.S. 1 from Old Lincoln Highway in Bensalem Township through Langhorne Borough and Langhorne Manor to north of the Route 413 Interchange in Middletown Township, Bucks County, over the next eight-plus years.  In addition, PennDOT in 2014 completed $14.8 million in improvements at the U.S. 1/Maple Avenue Interchange in Middletown Township as part of their overall initiative to modernize and upgrade the U.S. 1 corridor in Bucks County.

Alan Myers Construction, of Worcester, PA, is the general contractor on RC1.

CLICK HERE to read the Spring 2018 Construction Update.

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