PennDOT to unveil latest plans for Route 981 realignment

Plans for the second, northernmost section of PennDOT’s Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project will be displayed for public comment Thursday at the Pleasant Unity fire hall.

The open house session is set for 5 to 7 p.m. at 135 John George St. in the Unity Township village.

The Laurel Valley project is meant to improve safety and traffic flow along the Route 981 corridor between Mt. Pleasant and the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.

Plans call for smoothing out curves and grades, creating new alignments on portions of the route and transforming several intersections by installing roundabouts.

The second section of the project, dubbed Y10 by planners,will depart substantially from existing Route 981.

Instead, the 3-mile segment will veer to the east, following Hill Churches Road/Bell Memorial Church Road from the Bingham Road intersection in Mount Pleasant Township north to Route 981 at Airport Road in Unity.

From north to south along the revamped route, three roundabouts are planned: at Bell Memorial Church Road and Route 130; at Bell Memorial Church Road and a newly aligned portion of Route 981; and at Route 981 and Airport Road, which will be relocated.

PennDOT expects to open contract bids for the project section in the coming summer.

The construction schedule stretches over the following three years, potentially wrapping up in the fall of 2028.

Design of the project is in the final stages.

Planners estimate the work could cost anywhere from $50 million to $60 million.

Those unable to attend the open house in person will be able to view project documents online and make comments through Feb. 6. The Laurel Valley project website is laurelvalleyproject.com.

Earlier section completed

Last year, PennDOT substantially finished and opened traffic on the initial and southernmost section of the Laurel Valley project.

The section stretches 4.5 miles along Route 981 in Mt. Pleasant Township, from the intersection of Route 819 north to the intersection of Route 2023 in the village of Norvelt.

That portion of the corridor, designated Q20, also gained three roundabouts; at routes 819 and 981; at Hecla Road, State Street and 981; and at Mt. Pleasant, Kecksburg and Hecla roads, which all intersect with 981 in Norvelt.

Walsh Construction was the general contractor for that section of the project, at a cost of $58.2 million.

PennDOT District 12 officials, in their latest newsletter, described two major challenges during that construction project, which began with a November 2021 groundbreaking.

A two-week detour was required to lower a portion of Route 981 to improve clearance under the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

And more than 62,000 tons of rock was needed to back fill an area known as the “swamp” that caused trouble when crews had to relocate some waterlines.

According to PennDOT, the Q20 project also involved removal of an abandoned railroad truss, which was donated to the West Overton Village museum in East Huntingdon.