PennDOT Narrows Project Wins Award

HARRISBURG – The Department of Transportation announced that three recent projects have earned high honors in a national competition.

PennDOT’s U.S. Routes 22 and 322 Lewistown Narrows project in Mifflin and Juniata counties earned a gold award in the “risk taking” category of the National Partnership for Highway Quality “Making a Difference” contest.

Silver awards went to the Cameron Bridge/Routes 61 and 225 intersection improvements in Coal Township and Shamokin, Northumberland County, for public communications; and PennDOT’s Oil City-based district won in the partnering category for its innovative district operations teams.

The Lewistown Narrows and the Cameron Bridge projects were also recently cited for top awards by the Federal Highway Administration’s Excellence in Highway Design competition.

“Pursuing quality in all we do is much more than a mantra at PennDOT,” said Secretary Allen D. Biehler, P.E. “Quality is very much the focus of our work and this additional national recognition is further evidence that Pennsylvania residents are well served by PennDOT.”

The National Partnership for Highway Quality’s “Making a Difference” Awards recognize overall project quality, the partnership between state departments of transportation and private contractors; technical and materials innovations; the effectiveness and creativity of public involvement; a team’s effectiveness in meeting or exceeding expected deadlines, costs and deliverables; responsiveness to environmental needs; and opportunities and adherence to other principles of quality management.

The Lewistown Narrows project involved challenging design issues because of the steep mountain slope and narrow width the highway had to follow. Traffic controls also were a concern because the corridor’s traffic rises to more than 50,000 vehicles a day during Penn State football weekends. Extensive partnering was done through a citizens’ advisory committee, public meetings, and continuous dialogue with other agencies and lawmakers.

The finished project, the second largest construction contract ever awarded by PennDOT, includes the nation’s longest mechanically stabilized earth wall and was finished a year ahead of schedule. The new roadway also stands as a dramatic safety improvement over the old two-lane corridor, which had a high crash history.

For the Cameron Bridge project, PennDOT mounted an extensive public involvement process, which included a 23-member steering committee of local officials, business owners and residents. The committee worked with PennDOT to develop 13 improvement alternatives, PennDOT solicited input on design details from the committee, two open houses were held, and residents were invited to sketch and submit ideas for the project. A video also was produced to explain the project.

PennDOT District 1, covering Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Forest and Warren counties, developed operations teams to maximize equipment use, combine and share individual and organizational expertise, prepare comprehensive plans and organize resources. Non-traditional, maintenance-oriented crews drew members from a number of counties who worked across traditional PennDOT organization boundaries. Management, rank-and-file and supervisory employees, and AFSCME District Council 85 staff agreed to this flexibility.