The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation plans to move northbound ramps on Interstate 79 from the east side to the west side at Route 910 to reduce congestion that causes accidents.
Plans unveiled during an online meeting Tuesday night would shift the northbound exit and entrance ramps about 1,000 feet, moving them away from Brandt School Road, near Soergel Orchards. The current alignment creates a bottleneck on both roads at the Brandt School traffic light at Route 910.
The new alignment would put those ramps adjacent to the south ramps, creating a common interchange on Route 910. That new interchange will allow two turn lanes left and right, moving traffic quicker and eliminating backups onto the interstate, PennDOT consultants said.
“We will be moving to the heaviest volumes of traffic through the intersection at the same time,” said Chad Reese, an associate with consultant Whitman, Requardt & Associates. The configuration will “flush a very high volume of traffic pretty easily,” he added.
The department settled on this $45 million-$50 million design after considering a number of other options, including a diverging diamond and traffic circles. Those options either didn’t have enough room or wouldn’t address the problem at Brandt School.
The proposed new north ramps will have extended lanes for accelerating at the entrance and decelerating at the exit to avoid backups. The entrance and exit points for the ramps will be at about the same locations as they are now.
The project shouldn’t have any effect on the intersection at Nicholson Road because it is far enough away on the west side.
Two key advantages of this design are that it won’t involve taking any property and almost all of the work can be done without disrupting traffic patterns. All of the businesses on Route 910 will have access throughout the project.
Crews may need some construction easements, but all the property is already part of PennDOT’s right of way. When the existing ramps are removed, the hillside will be covered with vegetation.
The project is still in its preliminary design stage, which won’t be finished until the end of summer. It will go out for bids early next year, with construction expected to start by the end of 2024 and last about two years.
PennDOT already has the funding for the project.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.