A two-year-old major road project that continues to affect traffic and commerce in Hellertown and Bethlehem is nearing its home stretch, but it’s not quite there yet, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) officials told a sizeable audience of business owners and borough officials at a Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber of Commerce-sponsored breakfast meeting Tuesday.
The update was provided a year after the same officials extended the end date for the Rt. 412 widening to 2016, disappointing many who were hopeful for a quick end to the dust, dirt, noise and delays caused by the work, which result in a significantly widened roadway between the I-78 interchange and Sands Casino Bethlehem.
PennDOT construction engineer Darren LePage discusses the Rt. 412 widening project that continues to affect traffic in Hellertown and Bethlehem at a chamber-sponsored public meeting Thursday.
There was no extension to that timeline announced Tuesday–no doubt to the relief of most present–but PennDOT staff reiterated their message from a year ago, when their remarks focused on problems related to the construction of a new bridge across the Saucon Creek.
The high water table in that area was an impediment to what should have been faster progress on the bridge, and “the bridge is the key again,” PennDOT construction engineer Darren LePage said. “We’re looking to get that done sometime in October.”
The bridge is located in the center section of a three-section project, between Commerce Center Boulevard–where a new jughandle is under construction on the west side of Rt. 412–and Shimersville Road.
At Shimersville, another jughandle will allow for “freeflow movement” of trash trucks around the traffic light and north to Applebutter Road, PennDOT’s Tim Penrose said.
That feature “is going to reduce the congestion” at that intersection, he said, adding that “Shimersville backs up pretty quick.”
Meeting attendees were told that overdue work on the Lynn Avenue bridge replacement project in South Bethlehem is being delayed until the Rt. 412 project is completed, which is expected to be by the end of 2016.
LePage explained that by the end of the 2015 major construction season the work on both the northbound and southbound sides along the entire length of the widened roadway should be all but completed, which will allow for the extensive median work, final paving and road markings to be laid down in 2016.
“That all is expected to be done by the end of 2016—again, weather pending, and hopefully we don’t hit any more challenges like we’ve hit with the (bridge) structure,” he said.
PennDOT’s Al Pica commented that “we better be done” by 2017, which is when borough manager Cathy Hartranft said work on the replacement of the Water Street Bridge across the Saucon Creek in Hellertown is currently scheduled to begin.
She added that she will be getting another update on that project soon.
In response to an audience member question, Pica conceded that the Rt. 412 project is running over its initial $36 million budget, and said he anticipates the final cost will exceed budget by more than 10 percent.
Nevertheless, additional work crews have been added by contractor HRI Inc. in order to keep up the current “aggressive” pace, LePage said.
“We have a lot of work going on,” he said. “We’re working extended hours.”
PennDOT District Press Officer Ron Young said that no matter what happens, “we won’t run out of money for this project.” If anything, he said, money will be diverted from other areas if necessary to pay for the Rt. 412 widening project’s completion.
The southern terminus of the Rt. 412 project is near the Hellertown-Bethlehem border at Cherry Lane. Pictured: Main Street in Hellertown looking north.
