Paving to disrupt traffic on Routes 819, 981 in Mt. Pleasant area
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Motorists driving in the Mt. Pleasant area should be prepared for lane restrictions next week as PennDOT resurfaces routes 819 and 981 in the community.
According to PennDOT project manager Rick Cutia, contractor Tresco Paving is expected to work on sections of Route 819 beginning Tuesday, with repairs to the road base. Work on an asphalt leveling course will follow on Wednesday and Thursday, weather permitting.
According to Cutia, the Route 819 work area will stretch from the vicinity of the Countryside Plaza, in East Huntingdon, through Mt. Pleasant Borough to the intersection of Route 981, north of town in Mt. Pleasant Township.
That work and resurfacing of an adjoining section of Route 981 — covering a little more than a mile between Route 819 and Mt. Pleasant’s Main Street — are part of an overall $10 million contract with Tresco to mill, make base repairs and apply fresh asphalt to portions of 18 state roads in Westmoreland County by June 30, 2023.
All of the work will take place during daylight hours, with alternating single-lane closures.
The resurfacing project also will include sections of routes 30, 66, 119, 217 and 366.
Resurfacing of Route 981 in the Mt. Pleasant area is likely to begin during the week of June 20, Cutia said.
He said Tresco is working simultaneously on routes 819 and 981 “due to their close proximity and similar treatments,” but he added that progress on Route 981 apparently will be delayed “as a result of additional drainage repairs needed that were uncovered during milling operations.”
The section of Route 981 that is being improved will tie in at its southern end with new concrete pavement that was completed a few years ago on Main Street.
A roundabout is under construction at routes 981 and 819 as part of the first phase of PennDOT’s Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project. PennDOT officials said motorists should be prepared for delays and intermittent traffic stoppages at that intersection, with a detour for traffic on Route 819 expected later this year.
In May, Tresco completed resurfacing of sections of Route 981 between Norvelt, in Mt. Pleasant Township, and the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, in Unity Township.
That work covered about 6.3 miles, skipping over the section of Route 981 that coincides with Route 130 in Pleasant Unity. It was a carryover from PennDOT’s 2021 Westmoreland County resurfacing project.