Skip to agency navigation
Skip to main content

Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means its official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Shapiro Administration Highlights Nearly 66 Miles Paved, 25 Bridges Replaced, Rehabilitated or Preserved in Northwest PA in 2024

    November 14, 2024

    The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today marked the completion of the 2024 construction and summer maintenance season and the 95 projects that had active work take place in District 1, which includes Crawford, Erie, Forest, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties. Work in 2024 included paving nearly 66 miles of roadway, seal coating more than 400 miles, and replacing or repairing 25 bridges. 

    “The 2024 construction season included a variety of projects that together demonstrate PennDOT's commitment to an overall transportation system that focuses on safety and accessibility for all users," said PennDOT District 1 Executive Brian McNulty. “This includes the Route 318 emergency bridge replacement in Mercer County, preservation of the Niemeyer Road covered bridge in Erie County, projects along Route 6 in Crawford and Warren counties, landslide repairs in Forest County, and paving on Route 322 in Mercer and Venango counties." 

    Statewide from January through October, 5,385 roadway miles were improved, including 1,941 miles of paving. In the same timeframe, work advanced on 401 state and locally owned bridges. Additionally, 356 construction contracts for highway, bridge, and other improvement projects were completed statewide through PennDOT's private-sector partners so far this year. 

    Since taking office, Governor Josh Shapiro has secured over $300 million in new infrastructure funding to maintain Pennsylvania's roads and bridges – reducing the Pennsylvania State Police's reliance on the Motor License Fund, delivering more funding for transportation while ensuring our law enforcement officers are sustainably funded. 

    As of November 7, District 1 has awarded 61 contracts for an estimated investment of more than $150 million, including 21 roadway projects, 21 contracts to replace or repair state-owned bridges, 9 safety projects, and 10 projects for work on locally owned roadways, bridges, and trails. Physical work on some contracts awarded in 2024 will begin in 2025. 

    “Over the past few years, the staff at PennDOT's northwest region has expanded our scope to look for ways to better leverage grants and other funding opportunities to improve pedestrian and multimodal amenities whether as independent projects or as part of a larger contract," McNulty said. “This can be accomplished only through collaboration with local governments and our planning partners." 

    In 2024, these types of projects included the following:

    • Erie Loop Bikeway – Creation of a bike lane on Greengarden Boulevard from 12th Street to 38th Street in the City of Erie. This project is funded through the Surface Transportation Program. The contract cost is $372,222.
    • Downtown Erie Active Transportation Project – Installation of signs to help pedestrians and cyclist navigate paths throughout the City of Erie. It includes 11 miles along the Bayfront Connector and 16 miles within the city's urban core. The project is funded through a federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA) grant. The contract cost is $429,941.
    • Union City Pedestrian Improvements – Sidewalk upgrades and installations on Bridge Street, Willow Street and Concord Street. The project is funded through a TASA grant. The contract cost is $449,742.
    • Kelly Road Bike Path – Improvements to the bicycle and pedestrian route on both sides of the new Kelly Road Bridge in the City of Hermitage and Sharpsville Borough. These are funded in part by the federal Surface Transportation Urban program. The combined contract cost is approximately $1 million.
    • Springfield Trail – The second phase of the Springfield Township Multimodal Trail Project along Route 208. The project is funded through a TASA grant. The contract cost is $613,333.

    Unique funding for multimodal improvements is also included as part of the Route 18-Route 58 Improvement Project near Thiel College in Greenville, the Central Bayfront Parkway Improvement Project in the City of Erie and the Route 6 Reconstruction in Crawford County. 

    “We already have multimodal projects in the hopper for next year, including the Edinboro pedestrian path and bridge along Route 6, and the sidewalk improvements on East State Street in Sharon," McNulty said. “Local municipal officials should take note, there are funding options available, whether grants or other methods, that may be able to help you complete your multimodal projects, but you need to take that step to apply." 

    Before the end of the year, District 1 expects to open bids for an additional five contracts worth approximately $9.5 million, including the Edinboro and Sharon projects.

    Of the 95 projects with active work this year, 40 were contracts started or awarded prior to 2024. 

    There were 13 active projects in Crawford County, including:

    • Route 6 Reconstruction – Rebuilding more than 5 miles of roadway from Mead Avenue to Baldwin Street Extension in the City of Meadville and West Mead Township. The project will reduce the number of lanes from four to two, update the intersections with State Road, Baldwin Street Extension and Park Road, as well as create a multi-use trail. Major work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $16.6 million.
    • Interstate 79 – Paving approximately 5 miles of roadway in both directions from mile marker 136 to mile marker 141 in Greenwood and Union townships. Minor work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $8.9 million.
    • Route 8 and Route 77 – Safety improvements to the intersection in Bloomfield Township. Work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $3 million.
    • Route 102 – Paving more than 4 miles of roadway from Route 6 to Route 98 in Vernon Township. The contract cost is $2 million.
    • Route 886 – Paving nearly 9 miles of roadway from Oak Street to Henry Road in the City of Meadville, Woodcock Borough, and Cambridge, West Mead, and Woodcock townships. The contract cost is $2.8 million.
    • Hunter Road (Route 2012) – Replacement of the bridge over Hunter Run in East Mead Township. PennDOT employees at the Crawford County maintenance facility fabricated the beams for this project. The contract cost is approximately $400,000.​

    There were 23 active projects in Erie County, including:

    • Central Bayfront Parkway Improvement Project – Major improvements to the parkway at the intersections with Sassafras Street Extension, State Street, and Holland Street in the City of Erie. Work is expected to be completed in 2027. The contract cost is $112 million.
    • East Bayfront Parkway Project – Safety improvements from Port Access to East 12th Street in the City of Erie. The project was expanded to include improvements on Sixth Street. The original contract cost is $4.5 million.
    • Cranberry Street Safety Project – Installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Cranberry Street and the Bayfront Parkway in the City of Erie as well as pedestrian improvements. Minor work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is approximately $571,000.
    • Route 20 – Replacement of the bridge over Twenty Mile Creek in North East Township. Work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $9.6 million.
    • Waterford Covered Bridge – Repair and rehabilitation of the locally-owned bridge that carries Niemeyer Road over LeBeouf Creek in Waterford Township. The contract cost is $3.5 million.
    • Depot Road – Paving and safety improvements along Route 531 (Depot Road) in Harborcreek Township. Work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $13.5 million.
    • Route 19 – Paving more than 1 mile of Route 19 (Peach Street) in Summit Township. The contract cost is $2.6 million.

    There were three active projects in Forest County:

    • Route 62 – Repairing and repaving more than 1 mile of roadway from Little Hickory Road (Route 3004) to Route 217 in Hickory Township. The contract cost is approximately $724,000.
    • Route 666 – Repairing and repaving almost 2 miles of roadway from Blue Jay Creek Road (Route 1003) to the Warren County line in Howe Township. The contract cost is approximately $978,000.

    There were 22 active projects in Mercer County, including:

    • Route 18-Route 58 Improvement Project – Improvements to three intersections along Route 18 near Thiel College in Greenville Borough and almost 2 miles of paving in Hempfield Township and Greenville. Work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $8 million.
    • Route 318 – Emergency replacement of the bridge over Interstate 376 in Shenango Township. The contract cost is $5.1 million.
    • State Street – Pedestrian improvements along the roadway from Boyd Drive to Route 18 in the City of Sharon. The contract cost is $1.7 million.
    • Route 18 – Paving of nearly 3 miles of roadway from Roman Road to Wilson Road in West Middlesex Borough and the City of Hermitage. Work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $1.8 million.
    • Valley Road (Route 3039) – Replacement of the bridge over Lackawannock Creek in Jefferson Township. Work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $1.9 million.
    • Scrubgrass Road (Route 2014) – Replacement of the bridge over Cool Spring in Findley Township. Work is expected to be completed in 2025. The contract cost is $3.9 million.
    • Sheakleyville-Greenville Road (Route 4020) – Paving 3.6 miles of roadway from Route 19 to Quniter Road in Salem and Sandy Creek townships, and Sheakleyville Borough. The contract cost is $1.1 million.
    • Route 258 – Paving 7 miles of roadway from Route 208 to Route 58 in Springfield, Findley and East Lackawannock townships, and Mercer Borough. The contract cost is $2.1 million. 

    There were 12 active projects in Venango County, including:

    • State Street – Repairs to the locally-owned bridge over the Allegheny River in the City of Oil City. The contract cost is $2.7 million.
    • Route 322 – Paving of 5.5 miles of roadway from Whippoorwill Road to the Clarion County line in Rockland and Cranberry townships. The contract cost is $3 million.
    • Route 208 – Replacement of the bridge over Little Scrubgrass in Clintonville Borough. The contract cost is $2.1 million.
    • Fisherman's Cove Bridge – Replacement of the locally-owned bridge over Victory Run in Victory Township. The contract cost is $2 million.
    • Group paving – Completion of a project to resurface of 3.6 miles of East State Road (Route 2006), 2.6 miles of Rockland Cranberry Road (Route 2013), and 4.2 miles of Deep Hollow Road (Route 2035) in Cranberry Township. The contract cost is $4.1 million.

    There were 12 active projects in Warren County, including:

    • Route 6 – Paving 4 miles of roadway from west of Yankee Bush Road to Main Avenue, as well as preservation of three bridges over Morse Run, Allegheny & Eastern Railroads, and the Allegheny River in Conewango and Pleasant townships and the City of Warren. Work is expected to be complete in 2025. The contract cost is $11 million.
    • Route 59 – Repairs to the bridge over the Allegheny River in Mead Township. Work is expected to be complete in 2025. The contract cost is $6.1 million.
    • Local road paving – Paving of Madison Avenue, Lexington Avenue and Crescent Park Road in the City of Warren. The contract cost is approximately $763,000. 

    There were also 10 contracts for work across more than one county for guiderail repairs and updates, highway patching, permanent message boards, highway lighting repairs and updates, reflective pavement marker installation, durable pavement markings, and other work.  

    Many of the projects in 2024 were funded at least in part by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). This year alone, the BIL brought approximately $25 million in additional funding to the northwest region to be allocated by the department and its local Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organization (MPO/RPO) partners. In the northwest region, the planning partners are the Erie Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the Shenango Valley MPO, and the Northwest Rural Planning Organization (RPO), for projects in Crawford, Erie, Forest, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties. 

    To see a complete list of all the contracts awarded or are scheduled to be awarded in 2024 as well as projects with work that carried over from the previous year, go online to the District 1 Construction Book, which can be found at www.penndot.pa.gov/District1. 

    District 1 maintenance forces also had a busy season. Among their accomplishments were complete 405 miles of seal coating, which will preserve and prolong the service life of those roadways, 7,685 miles of lines painted, and 280 miles of ditching. The county bridge crews were also able to clean and flush drainage on 1,513 bridges. 

    PennDOT District 1 is hiring for a variety of positions, including civil engineers, construction inspectors, transportation technicians, CDL operators and mechanics. Apply online at www.employment.pa.gov. 

    Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

    511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts. 

    Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Crawford, Erie, Forest, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District1. 

    Information about infrastructure in District 1, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D1Results. Find PennDOT's planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov. 

    Find PennDOT news on XOpens In A New Window, Facebook, and Instagram.   ​ 

    # # #

    MEDIA CONTACT: Jill Harry, 814-678-5035 or jharry@pa.gov