PennDOT said Tuesday it will get back to work on emergency and critical highway and bridge projects.
On March 17, Gov. Wolf paused the normal highway and bridge construction program to minimize covid-19 exposure for PennDOT and private sector employees.
Tuesday’s announcement means that some 61 emergency and critical road and bridge projects will be active statewide this week.
Projects in the Western Pennsylvania region include the Route 30 sinkhole in Greensburg, landslide repairs in Springhill, and roadwork on Route 519 at Route 980 and Interstate 79 in North Strabane, South Junction to Routh 519 in South Strabane and Ohiopyle Multimodal Gateway.
“A safe and reliable transportation network is always of the utmost importance, but it becomes even more crucial in times of crisis,” said Acting PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “We need to ensure that work continues on these critical projects, and we are taking the proper precautions to help ensure the safety of both our employees and our partners in the industry.”
Precautions include cleanliness protocols for job sites and offices, social distancing guidelines, procedures to address employee sickness, and the safe handling of material deliveries.
The emergency work that continues addresses specific safety need criteria, including landslide repairs, or critical bridge, tunnel and drainage repairs, and work needed to eliminate roadway restrictions that could impede movement of life sustaining goods and services.
Meanwhile, Robert Latham, executive vice president of Associated Pennsylvania Constructors, applauded the announcement.
“APC supports the governor’s leadership in combating the spread of covid-19,” said Latham. “We also applaud the efforts by Secretary Gramian to keep Pennsylvania moving by ensuring that critical repairs to our Commonwealth infrastructure be allowed to move forward.”
