PennDOT District 6 has provided a Winter 2022 update for the long-term U.S. 1 Improvements Project in lower Bucks County.
Abutment and pier construction continue for the new U.S. 1 bridge over the Neshaminy Creek while abutment construction has started for the new U.S. 1 bridge over rail lines and the Penndel/U.S. 1 Business exit under one-of-two PennDOT projects currently underway to improve U.S. 1 in Bucks County.
Construction is underway through early 2022 on the north and south abutments and two in-stream piers for the new southbound bridge over the Neshaminy Creek for the RC2 portion of the project. Bridge beam setting and deck construction will then continue through winter as conditions permit, with placement of the concrete deck this spring and construction of the bridge finishing in early summer.
On U.S. 1 between the Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange and the Bristol Road overpass, the contractor continues to excavate the embankments along both sides of U.S. 1 for the construction of a third travel lane in each direction from just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Bensalem Interchange to the Penndel/U.S. 1 Business Interchange. Installation of drainage components will get underway in early 2022 along the southbound side of U.S. 1.
North of the Neshaminy Creek, the northbound ramp to U.S. 1 Business has been widened and construction has started on abutments and piers for the northbound structure over the Penndel Interchange and adjacent rail lines, the project’s second set of large bridges. The new northbound structure is expected to be built by fall 2022.
At the Neshaminy Interchange, the contractor will continue drainage work and grading this winter in advance of construction to reconfigure and improve the interchange during a later stage of the project
The $110.9 million RC2 project is scheduled to be completed in mid-2026.
For RC1, new southbound bridges are in place over the PA Turnpike and Street Road in Bensalem, while the new southbound bridge over Turnpike’s ramps remains under construction. The contractor will install parapets and tie-ins to the U.S. 1 bridge as conditions permit this winter. As construction continues on the final southbound bridge, southbound U.S. 1 paving between Street Road (Route 132) and the commercial area approaching Old Lincoln Highway will be finished over the winter if conditions permit.
The new southbound U.S. 1 ramp to Street Road (Route 132) has been completed and is now open. After construction in the middle portion of Street Road wrapped up in late 2021, reconstruction of the westbound side of Street Road got underway.
The new ramp from Street Road to southbound U.S. 1 will remain under construction until westbound widening on Street Road finishes in the spring. Eastbound Street Road reconstruction between Kingston Way and Old Lincoln Highway finished earlier in 2021. Access to and from properties located on both sides of U.S. 1 will continue to be maintained during construction. Construction on the $94 million RC1 project will continue into mid-2022.
The contracts, RC1 and RC2, are part of PennDOT’s three-phase project to improve four miles of U.S. 1 in Bucks County by reconstructing and widening the pavement, building several bridges, and improving several interchanges along a continuous three-mile section of highway in Bensalem and Middletown townships.
PennDOT in 2014 completed $14.8 million in improvements at the U.S. 1/Maple Avenue Interchange in Middletown Township as part of their overall initiative to modernize and upgrade the U.S. 1 corridor in Bucks County.