Meeting to discuss ongoing I-79/Route 910 interchange project

Motorists who already have started feeling the pain from the reconstruction of Interstate 79’s interchange at Route 910 can get a preview Wednesday of more upcoming traffic disruptions that will occur during the project.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will hold public meetings at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Franklin Park to discuss the $46.5 million project that started last month. The project extends from about 1.5 miles north of the Interstate 79-279 split in Franklin Park to Mingo Road in Marshall on I-79 and from Nicholson Road to Brandt School Road/VIP Drive on Route 910 in Marshall.

The complicated two-year project is designed to improve traffic flow at the interchange by moving northbound entrance and exit ramps about 1,000 feet west so they are adjacent to the southbound entrance and exit ramps. This will create a new configuration at the interchange known as a single-point urban interchange that is designed to move a high volume of traffic and eliminate congestion on Route 910, where there are two traffic lights close to each other at the northbound ramps and Brandt School Road-VIP Drive.

This will be the first use of the single-point urban interchange in PennDOT’s District 11, which includes Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties.

Another benefit is that the new ramps will provide longer distances for drivers to accelerate or decelerate getting on and off I-79. Two new flyover ramps, new traffic signals and new highway lights also are part of the project. 

The meetings are designed to provide motorists with more information about the project and allow them to ask questions and provide feedback about how work will proceed. Officials from PennDOT will be joined by engineering and design consultants as well as contractor Golden Triangle Construction Co.

The meetings will be held at the Upper Cardinal DiNardo Center Social Hall at Saints John & Paul Catholic Church, 2586 Wexford Bayne Road, Franklin Park.