Major Structure Work Completed On Route 1 Project

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA —Bridge construction on the new northbound Route 1 is complete and partially open to traffic, PennDOT said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has provided an update on the progress of the Route 1 Traffic Improvements Project going into the new year.

PennDOT said the bridge over the Neshaminy Creek has been substantially completed while work continues into next spring to finish the connecting sections of roadway on both sides of the new structure in Bensalem and Middletown townships.

With new bridges in place over the Penndel/Business U.S. 1 Interchange and over Rockhill Drive at the Neshaminy exit, major structure work under PennDOT’s $111 million project to widen and improve U.S. 1 in Bucks County has been completed.

PennDOT will focus on completing the roadway section of the contract, widening Route 1 to three lanes in each direction between the new bridges throughout the year.

With excavation and drainage finished, a base course of paving is in place from the Neshaminy exit and the twin bridges across the Neshaminy Creek. Crews will work as weather permits to complete the remaining roadwork over the winter.

A final paving “wearing course” will be placed along the entire project area next spring during the final stage of the project that began in 2021.

Over the fall season, sound wall panels were placed along the southbound lanes approaching and on the new bridge over the Penndel/Business U.S. 1 interchange. Southbound U.S. 1 traffic was then shifted onto the new span. The adjacent northbound side was finished in 2023.

Southbound U.S. 1 traffic was shifted in September onto the new southbound U.S. 1 bridge over Rockhill Drive at the Neshaminy Exit, completing bridge replacement at the interchange. The ramp from Rockhill Drive to southbound U.S. 1, along with access to this ramp from Horizon Boulevard was also opened.

On Rockhill Drive under the new U.S. 1 bridge, work has shifted into the final stages of widening the eastbound roadway at the interchange.

The new northbound bridge over the Neshaminy Creek is being used as a temporary off-ramp to Penndel/Business U.S. 1 while northbound and southbound traffic on U.S. 1 remains on the new southbound bridge during remaining roadway construction.

Section RC2 is part two of PennDOT’s three-phase project to improve approximately five miles of U.S. 1 in Bucks County by reconstructing and widening the pavement, replacing several bridges, and improving several interchanges along a continuous section of highway in Bensalem and Middletown townships.

RC2 construction is expected to be completed in mid-2025, approximately a year ahead of the original contract completion date.

In 2014, PennDOT 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.

A third project, RC3, will improve U.S. 1 from the Penndel/Business U.S. 1 Interchange north through the Route 413 overpass. The project remains in Final Design and is not yet scheduled for construction.

(Pennsylvania Department of Transportation)