Massive Route 422 Widening Project Moves Forward

A contractor has been selected for the $97 million project that will expand Route 422 near Valley Forge over the next four years.

JD Eckman, based in Atglen, has been approved as the contractor for the project.

The project will feature new, wider bridges over the Schuylkill River, and will upgrade the highway between the Route 363 (Trooper Road) and Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) interchanges.

West Norriton, Lower Providence, Upper Merion, and Tredyffrin townships are among the locales that will be directly impacted.

Neighboring municipalities will likely seen an uptick of traffic during the construction period, but officials are hopeful that the conclusion of the project will alleviate congestion throughout Montgomery and Chester counties.

“The awarding of this contract is a significant milestone in the plan to move traffic more efficiently on this heavily congested stretch of U.S. 422 by expanding the aging eastbound and westbound bridges between the Route 363 and Route 23 interchanges, and by improving the highway and ramps in this area,” PennDOT District Executive Kenneth M. McClain said in a prepared statement.

“The U.S. 422 improvement project is another example of the positive impact of Act 89, Pennsylvania’s transportation plan,” McClain added. “Without Act 89, this project would not have advanced to construction before 2018.”

Preliminary activities began in early February, and construction is scheduled to finish in May 2020.

The existing structures - over the Schuylkill River, Norfolk Southern Railroad, S. Trooper Road and Schuylkill River Trail - were built in 1965, and carry an average of 92,000 vehicles a day.

The new, five-span structures will be 785 feet long and have a total width of 146 feet (the bridge’s existing width is 72 feet).

When construction is completed, officials say that the new bridges will carry six lanes – three westbound and three eastbound. There will be two through lanes in each direction plus a third lane on both sides for drivers to use to travel between the Route 363 (Trooper Road) and Route 23 (Valley Forge Road) interchanges.

The new bridges will also be wide enough for the possible addition of a third through lane in each direction sometime in the future.

The project is financed with 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funds, officials said.

Image courtesy 422Improvements.com.