Governor Wolf Highlights Progress of Statewide ‘Resurface PA’ Initiative

| August 29, 2018

BOOTHWYN, Pa. – Governor Tom Wolf joined Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Leslie S. Richards, PennDOT officials, and other representatives on Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center in Delaware County to highlight the progress of the Resurface PA Initiative.

“PennDOT has made great strides with this aggressive campaign to accelerate repaving work on interstates and attack potholes across Pennsylvania,” Governor Wolf said. “In addition to accelerating the work, Resurface PA extends our reach to roads and highways throughout the state that we would not have been able to reach in a regular maintenance year.”

Under the Resurface PA initiative, PennDOT has mounted an aggressive campaign to accelerate repaving interstates and attacking potholes across the state’s 40,000 miles of PennDOT-maintained roads, the nation’s fifth largest such system. The program calls for an additional $7 million investment in seven interstate maintenance projects covering potholes and other repairs on 78 miles of roads this year. In addition, these additional investments are planned:

  • $30 million in transportation infrastructure investment funding for interstate improvements;
  • $60 million in PennDOT investments from interstate-project bid savings being reinvested in resurfacing; and
  • $62 million in additional funding for interstate preservation projects.

Together, these commitments will make 17 interstate paving and preservation projects covering 255 miles happen at least two years sooner than scheduled, with projects beginning this year and next year. These accelerated projects, which will preserve the pavement surfaces for at least five to six years, build on the 85 interstate projects covering more than 775 miles that are underway or expected to begin or finish this year.

A significant part of the work is being financed using savings from other projects since Governor Wolf took office.

Under ‘Resurface PA’, work is set to begin at the end of the summer to transform a nine-mile stretch of interstate 95 in Delaware County, a section that was last resurfaced in 2007, into a smoother and safer travel experience for motorists.

“The Philadelphia region has taken full advantage of the additional resources allocated from this initiative to attack potholes on our state highways,” District 6 Executive Kenneth M. McClain said. “These resources have allowed us to accelerate the work on much needed repairs, particularly on Interstate 95 in Delaware County.”

Through the end of July, PennDOT used 109,007 tons of patching material, compared to 101,326 tons during the same period in 2017. Department forces improved more than 1,800 miles of roads between January and the beginning of August, including pothole and other work. Also, the number of pothole concerns reported to PennDOT this year climbed to 15,154 through the end of July compared to 7,261 in 2017 and 4,135 in 2016. The investment in pothole repairs totaled $41 million through July and an additional $31 million in repairs is planned through October.

In addition to the Resurface PA contracted paving projects that are in process or design, these projects are underway:

Interstate 78

  • From mile marker 16 to Route 61, 5.9 miles in Berks County.

Interstate 79

  • From mile marker 178 to 182.5, 6.5 miles in Erie County.

Interstate 80

  • From I‐380 to Route 115, 10 miles in Monroe County.
  • About 4 miles in Luzerne County and then from the Luzerne County line to the Monroe. County line, 26 miles in Carbon County.
  • Nine miles in Jefferson County.

Interstate 81

  • From the Luzerne County line to Mile Marker 185.5 in Lackawanna County, including bridge work. 7 miles.
  • 28 miles in Luzerne County, from Sugar Notch to Avoca.
  • From Gordon to Frackville, 11.9 miles in Schuylkill County.
  • From Mahanoy to McAdoo, 16.7 miles in Schuylkill County.
  • From Ravine to Hegins, 12.5 miles in Schuylkill County.

Interstate 83

  • From Route 262 to Carlisle Road, 3.4 miles in York and Cumberland counties.

Interstate 84

  • Interchange area with Interstate 81, between Exits 185 and 186 on I-81 and from I-81 to Exit 2 on I-84 in Lackawanna County, 7 miles.

Interstate 95

  • Approximately 6 miles of I-95 in Philadelphia and another 17 miles in Delaware County.

Interstate 180

  • From the Market Street Bridge to the Loyalsock Creek bridge, 9.7 miles in Lycoming County.

Interstate 380

  • From the Monroe County line to Interstate 84, 15 miles in Lackawanna County.
  • From Interstate 80 to Route 940,5.1 miles in Monroe County.

Interstate 376

  • From the Fort Pitt Bridge to Edgewood, 14.8 miles in Allegheny County.

Motorists can report potholes and other highway-maintenance concerns on state routes at www.customercare.penndot.gov or by calling PennDOT’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-FIX-ROAD (1-800-349-7623).

Motorists are asked to be as specific as possible when providing locations of maintenance concerns. Motorists should report the county, municipality, street name, and state route number, which can be found on small black and white signs posted along state highways. In addition, a description of any familiar landmarks would be helpful for PennDOT to locate the problem area. Maintenance concerns will be corrected as soon as possible. Emergency road repairs, such as road wash-outs, are handled on a top-priority basis.

The 1-800-FIX-ROAD number should not be used to report traffic accidents, disabled vehicles or other emergencies. Motorists should continue to call 911 to report these types of emergencies.

To learn about how potholes form and how PennDOT addresses them, view the department’s “Pothole Patrol” video on its YouTube page, www.youtube.com/pennsylvaniadot.

Join the conversation on social media with #PotholePatrol. Visit PennDOT on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennsylvaniadepartmentoftransportation and Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot, or visit us on Twitter at @PennDOTNews.


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