Night Work on 202 Next Week in Advance of Highway Widening

The following was provided to Patch:

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on Friday announced that night work is scheduled next week (Sept. 22-26) on U.S. Route 202 between the Route 252 (Swedesford Road) and Route 401 interchanges in Tredyffrin and East Whiteland townships, Chester County, in preparation for opening the highway to 6 lanes next weekend.

Crews will work overnight to remove barriers, paint new traffic lines and install new signs as construction nears completion on PennDOT’s $105.4 million project to widen this four-mile section of Route 202 to three lanes in each direction to enhance travel and safety.

Weather permitting, the contractor’s upcoming work schedule is:

• On Monday through Wednesday (Sept. 22-24), northbound Route 202 will be reduced from two lanes to one between the Route 401 and Chesterbrook interchanges from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.;
• On Thursday (Sept. 25), northbound and southbound Route 202 will be reduced from two lanes to one between the Route 401 and Chesterbrook interchanges from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
• On Friday and Saturday (Sept. 26-27), northbound and southbound Route 202 will be reduced from two lanes to one between the Route 401 and Chesterbrook interchanges from 8 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Following the completion of roadwork next weekend, Route 202 will carry three travel lanes in each direction from just south of the Route 252 (Swedesford Road) Interchange to just north of the Route 401 Interchange. In addition, northbound travelers will continue to use the new collector-distributor lanes to access ramps at the Route 29 Interchange.

All work on this project will finish in late October as crews will complete landscaping and other off-road operations during the next few weeks.

PennDOT began construction in April 2011 to rebuild and widen this northern section of the Route 202 Section 300 Corridor. Under this contract, crews:

• Reconstructed the concrete pavement;
• Added a third travel lane in each direction;
• Built a two-lane, two-mile long collector-distributor road along northbound Route 202 to facilitate ramp traffic at the Route 29 Interchange;
• Replaced Route 202 bridges over Valley Creek and North Valley Road;
• Built three retaining walls;
• Installed 10 sound barrier walls adjacent to residential areas;
• Improved the highway’s storm water drainage system;
• Erected 16 new sign structures; and
• Added Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) components

Richard E. Pierson Construction Company, Inc. of Woodstown, N.J. is the general contractor on the $105,415,093 project, which is financed with 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funds.

As construction nears completion on this northern section of Route 202, work continues on the $63.4 million project to rebuild and widen 2.5 miles of Route 202 to six lanes between the Route 401 and U.S. Route 30 interchanges in East Whiteland Township. Construction on this southern section of the Route 202 Section 300 Corridor began in April 2013 and is scheduled to finish in 2016. Allan A. Myers, LP, of Worcester, Montgomery County, is the general contractor.

Prior to reconstructing and widening Route 202, PennDOT invested $40 million to replace six bridges over the highway with longer structures to provide the space to add an additional travel lane in each direction. PennDOT also improved two nearby intersections and invested $14.7 million to install ITS equipment along Route 202 in Chester and Delaware counties and on Route 100 and Route 30 in Chester County.

For more information on the expansion of Route 202 in East Whiteland and Tredyffrin townships, visit www.us202-300.com.