Continuing Road Work Along Northeast Extension Could Impact Summer Travel
By Jim Melwert
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Summer vacations are coming up, and if your plans include heading to the Poconos, here's an update on continuing road construction on the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension.
Some of the ongoing projects: A new EZ Pass-only exchange at Route 903 in Jim Thorpe near Lake Harmony is anticipated to open in June. Crews are rebuilding the Clark Summit Bridge from the Northbound lanes to the Allentown Service Plaza, but the plaza will remain open, and work at the Lansdale interchange continues.
But engineer Joe Serbu says outside of emergency repairs, they plan work for off-peak hours.
"During our summer months when we have our peak travel times or volumes, we change our work hours to accommodate the traffic flows," he says. "Because it's a toll road and we have our toll plazas, we have a pretty good understanding of when traffic is flowing from any point to another point, so we adjust our work times accordingly."
And work will be restricted completely during holiday weekends.
"Anything impacting the travel lanes themselves, they have to cease them for the holiday restrictions," Serbu says. "And up in the Poconos, we even block out for the races at the Pocono Raceway."
But from Mid-county tolls to Route 903, 48 of the 67 miles are involved in some sort of construction, with a reduced 55 mph speed limit.