Butler Pike To Reopen As Major Construction Project Completed

PLYMOUTH-WHITEMARSH, PA — After more than two years of closure, one of the Plymouth Meeting area's key roadways is set to reopen.

Butler Pike will officially reopen on Friday, Dec. 18, Montgomery County officials announced. The road has been shut down between Flourtown Road and Germantown Pike since Aug. 2018, when a large sinkhole was found in the area. Several more sinkholes were found in the ensuing months, and lengthy remediation project began.

"Keeping our roads and bridges safe for everyone who uses them is one of our top priorities," Montgomery County Commissioner Ken Lawrence said Thursday. "The new drainage, new road and utility improvements have made Butler Pike resilient for the future."

The reopening comes ahead of schedule, as authorities had said back in 2019 that they believed the road would be closed through early 2021. The project was also able to surmount additional construction delays caused by the pandemic. Crews with Loftus Construction worked overtime and on Saturdays to complete the project before winter set in.

That original sinkhole was near an active Norfolk Southern railroad bridge that passes over the road, as well as a high pressure natural gas transmission line owned by Texas Eastern Gas Pipeline.

Several other sinkholes along that stretch of road had both damaged the surface and caused harm to utilities underground, officials said.

Additionally, crews repaired a concrete drainage channel beneath the road to help handle storm water runoff in the vicinity.

New guiderails, asphalt paving, and concrete barriers at the Norfolk Southern railroad abutments were also completed as part of hte project.