PA 443 Improvements in Carbon County

County: Carbon
State Route: 443
Local Name: Blakeslee Boulevard
Project Type: Roadway Reconstruction and Safety Improvements
Start Month: January 2021
Proposed End Month: September 2024

​A project to reconstruct PA 443/Blakeslee Boulevard from the Carbon Plaza Mall in Mahoning Township to the US 209/Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge in Lehighton Borough.

Work on PA 443 includes reconstructing approximately 2.25 miles of roadway, adding a center turn lane along the corridor, adding left-turn lanes and traffic signal improvements at the PA 443 intersections with Mall Road/Mall Lane and East Penn Street/Mahoning Mountain Road designed to improve traffic flow and reduce crashes, drainage improvements, traffic signing, utility installation/relocation, new guiderail, pavement markings and other miscellaneous construction. The project also includes rehabilitating the PA 443 bridge over Mahoning Creek.

In addition, the PA 902/South 9th Street bridge over Mahoning Creek will be replaced and the intersection of PA 902 and PA 443 will be realigned slightly to the east to make a “T” intersection.

Work on this project will be in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health guidance as well as a project-specific COVID-19 safety plan, which will include protocols for social distancing, use of face coverings, personal and job-site cleaning protocols, management of entries to the jobsite, and relevant training.

For more information on projects occurring or being bid this year, those made possible by or accelerated by the state transportation funding plan (Act 89), or those on the department’s Four and Twelve Year Plans, visit www.projects.penndot.gov.

Motorists can check 511PA before we they travel for the latest conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, 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 twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

Follow regional PennDOT information on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAAllentown, and like the department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDepartmentofTransportation.  

​Ashtown Drive access to and from PA 443/Blakeslee Boulevard is closed as part of the ongoing PA 443 reconstruction project. Ashtown Drive traffic is being detoured on Bridge Street, PA 902/S. 9th Street and PA 443/Blakeslee Boulevard. This detour is anticipated to remain in place for three months.

For most of the project one lane will remain open in each direction on PA 443, but there will be occasional lane restrictions. 

Contract Cost: $21,118,085

Prime Contractor: H&K Group, Inc. of Skippack, PA