Contact:

Carl DeFebo
Manager, Media & Public Relations
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Desk (717) 920-7176

March 11, 2009

HARRISBURG, PA (03/11/2009; 1136)(readMedia) -- The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission cautions motorists that a 65-mile stretch of the toll road will be closed in both directions for five hours this weekend between Breezewood (Exit #161) and Carlisle (Exit #226) to allow a contractor to demolish two bridges that carry local roads over the Turnpike in Cumberland County. Beginning at 11 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, all eastbound Turnpike traffic will be diverted off at the Breezewood Interchange, Bedford County. At 11:45 p.m., all westbound Turnpike traffic will be diverted off at the Carlisle Interchange, Cumberland County.

Exiting motorists will be given an alternate-route card - listing directions to get back onto the Turnpike - by a collector at the tollbooth. (E-ZPass customers should obtain a copy of these directions, too.) Westbound motorists exiting at Carlisle will follow Route 11 North to Interstate 81 South into Maryland (58 miles) to Interstate 70 West (48 miles) to Route 30 East, reentering the Turnpike at Breezewood. Eastbound motorists exiting at Breezewood will follow Route 30 West to Interstate 70 East (48 miles) to Interstate 81 North (58 miles) to Route 11 South, reentering the Turnpike at Carlisle.

It is estimated the detour will add 30 minutes of travel time and 33 miles to the trip. Such an extensive detour is required because shorter alternate routes cannot safely accommodate the diverted traffic volumes.

After all Turnpike traffic is clear of the demolition zone, the contractor will have four hours to complete the blasting and beam-removal tasks. The Turnpike should reopen to one lane in each direction by 4 a.m. on Sunday, March 15. The single-lane restriction is needed to perform cleanup work, and it will affect only the work areas near mileposts 216 and 218. The contractor will have four hours to conduct the cleanup, fully restoring traffic by 8 a.m. Sunday.

Leading up to the Saturday-night closure, the contractor will implement single-lane travel restrictions in both directions near the demolition zone (approximately 10 miles west of the Carlisle Interchange). These lane limitations will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, enabling the contractor to do the preliminary work needed for the demolition of the overpasses which first opened in 1940.

The bridges, which carry Bloserville Road and Old Mill Road over Interstate 76 in West Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, are two of three to be replaced under a $10 million contract awarded in December 2008 to New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc., New Enterprise, Pa. Work began in January and is projected to be done by late November. The third bridge, which carries McAllister Church Road over the Turnpike at milepost 220 in West Pennsboro Township, will entail a similar detour on March 28. A fourth Cumberland County bridge, carrying Dyarman Road above the Turnpike near milepost 222 in North Middleton Township, is being eliminated and will call for a Turnpike detour in April. All work is being done to accommodate the future reconstruction and widening of a 6-mile stretch of the Turnpike from milepost 215 to 221.

All motorists traveling on this stretch of Turnpike are urged to use caution and remain alert for slow-moving or stopped traffic. This work is weather sensitive, and it would be rescheduled in case of precipitation, high winds or lightning.

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