A bridge over the Monongahela River that once linked Donora to the Webster section of Rostraver Township likely will be razed by year's end.

And a pair of bridge projects in Daisytown will overlap, creating an extended detour this year.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation detailed projects planned for 2014 and beyond during an outreach meeting for public officials and media Tuesday at its Washington County maintenance office in Eighty Four.

The Donora-Webster span – renamed in 2010 for Webster native and former Lt. Gov. Ernest Kline – was closed in July 2009 after an inspection revealed several main support beams had deteriorated.

As PennDOT officials discussed the span's planned demise, they referred to it as the Donora-Webster Bridge, its name for a century. The bridge will not be replaced.

Although bids won't be awarded until next month, the project has an estimated price tag of $3 million.

In addition to removing the bridge, the project will involve 4.1 miles of pavement upgrades along state Route 837 and improvements to the intersection of Route 837 and 14th Street in Donora. Minor drainage, signage, traffic signal and guiderail improvements are also slated.

If completed on schedule, all of the work is to be completed by Dec. 31.

On the Westmoreland County side of the river, just south of the Kline bridge, PennDOT will embark this summer on a $10 million job officials refer to as the 906 Rockfall project.

Contracts will be awarded in June for the project, which will include rock facing and cleanup and roadway improvements along Route 906, the DeiCas Highway and the ramp to the Donora-Monessen Bridge. Traffic signal upgrades and drainage improvements will be included in the project.

In Washington County, PennDOT began work Feb. 1 on replacement of a bridge over Pigeon Creek in Daisytown. On April 28, work to replace a span over Gorby Run Stream will begin.

Both projects will occur simultaneously through October.

The Gorby Run Stream bridge is slated for completion in November.

During the work, traffic will be detoured on Route 88 and West Malden Road.

The two projects have a combined price tag of roughly $2.5 million.

At Ginger Hill, PennDOT is planning a $6 million project to reconstruct Route 136 at Route 917 in Fallowfield Township. The project will be bid in June.

Much activity will be along the Interstate 70 corridor from New Stanton through Washington County. PennDOT will utilize a new “divergent diamond” interchange as a part of the $77 million Murtland Avenue interchange in Washington, Pa. Under the plan, drivers will cross over and drive on the left side of the road, making it easier to make left-hand turns.

Improvements to the I-70 Bentleyville interchange are scheduled for 2015.

Much of the construction work is being funded by Act 89, the new state transportation law.

The statute, signed in November by Gov. Tom Corbett, removed the 12-cent-per-gallon retail gas tax but uncapped the Oil Company Franchise Tax.

Joe Szczur, PennDOT District 12 executive, joked that agency officials have job security because the task of fixing the state's roads and structurally-deficient bridges is such a monumental task.

He said one in four bridges is structurally deficient, including 528 in District 12, which comprises Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette and Greene counties. The goal is to trim that list to the national average of one in 10, Szczur said.

Szczur said that statewide, revenue generated by Act 89 will support $946 million in new construction this year and as much as $2.4 billion within five years.

That advancement could be thwarted if the federal government fails to act by this summer to provide an influx of about $10.75 billion to the Highway Trust Fund.

Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2642 or cbuckley@tribweb.com.

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