Road closures planned in Mt. Pleasant Township for work on Route 981 roundabout
State Street will close Friday at Route 981 in Mt. Pleasant Township as construction continues on a new roundabout at that intersection.
State Street is expected to remain closed through late July as crews from Walsh Construction Company complete a connection between the street and the roundabout that is set to replace the existing crossroads of Route 981 and Hecla Road/State Street.
Motorists will continue to have access to State Street from the south, as far as the Hecla Volunteer Fire Department station.
For all others, detours will be posted using State Street and routes 819 and 981.
A full closure of Route 981 at the intersection is anticipated beginning in late July, when the remainder of the roundabout is slated for construction, according to PennDOT.
The roundabout is included in the first and southernmost of three phases of the Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project. The overall $55.2 million project is intended to improve safety and traffic flow by smoothing curves and realigning some sections of the Route 981 corridor between Mt. Pleasant and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.
The first phase is in Mt. Pleasant Township, extending about 4.5 miles from the intersection of Route 819 north to a point just south of the village of Calumet, according to PennDOT. Completion of that first phase is expected by September 2024.
The completed southern section of the project will include two additional new roundabouts — one at the Route 819 intersection and another at Norvelt, where Route 981 converges with Mt. Pleasant, Hecla and Kecksburg roads.
PennDOT says roundabouts tend to increase safety over traditional intersections controlled by traffic signals or stop signs. Roundabouts eliminate left turns and are designed to limit vehicle speeds to no more than 25 mph.
Citing available data from 2002 through 2021 for 36 state intersections that were converted to roundabouts, PennDOT indicated the change in road design resulted in a 9% drop in crashes at the sites and a 76% reduction in suspected serious injuries.
Visit laurelvalleyproject.com for more information.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
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