Road projects to trigger detours in Salem, St. Clair; roadwork to start on Route 981, I-70

Motorists will encounter detours in Salem and St. Clair townships beginning Monday because of road and bridge projects.

Traffic restrictions are slated the same week in PennDOT work zones on Interstate 70 and Route 981.

• In Salem, Athena Drive is expected to be closed through late July between Lauffer Mine Road and DeFrances/Stotler Drive. Crews will replace an elliptical concrete pipe crossing underneath the road.

A posted detour will follow portions of Trees Mill Road, Routes 22 and 66 and Greensburg/Freeport Street.

• In St. Clair, Shannon Creek Road will close between Goat Hill and Wildcat roads. That will allow a bridge crossing Shannon Run to be replaced with a precast concrete box culvert.

Work on that $600,000 project is scheduled to extend through last September. Traffic will be detoured onto Route 711 in St. Clair and neighboring New Florence.

Other roadwork

Route 981

Also on Monday, traffic will be reduced to a single, alternating lane in Mt. Pleasant Township on Route 981, between First Street and Cherry Blossom Drive. Controlled by a temporary signal, that traffic pattern is expected to continue through early July. Contractor Walsh Construction Co. will begin moving soil and preparing drainage for a new southbound lane and shoulder on Route 981.

That work is part of the ongoing $55.2 million Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project designed to improve safety and traffic flow on the Route 981 corridor between Mt. Pleasant Borough and Route 30.

Of the project’s three phases, the southernmost ends in the Mt. Pleasant Township village of Norvelt and is expected to wrap up this coming September. Visit laurelvalleyproject.com for more about the effort.

Interstate 70

Depending on the weather, single-lane restrictions will be in place Tuesday through Thursday in both directions of Interstate 70 between the Smithton and Route 51 interchanges in Rostraver.

Crews from Geronimo Painting will be installing containment to prepare for repainting portions of the Matthew Smelser Memorial Bridge over the Youghiogheny River.

This work is part of a $120.6 million project that involves reconfiguration of the Route 51 interchange and widening and reconstruction of sections of both that highway and the interstate.

PennDOT expects to complete the project by October 2027.

Visit i-70projects.com for more information about completed and pending improvements along the interstate in Westmoreland and Washington counties.