As one phase of Route 22 work gets ready to be complete, PennDOT is preparing for the next phase -- widening the route between 15th Street in Allentown and Route 378.
The first phase is one many Lehigh Valley drivers are intimately familiar with -- the $64.7 million project redesigning the Route 22 interchanges with MacArthur Road and Fullerton Avenue in Whitehall Township, and replacing the bridge over the Lehigh River, Lehigh Canal and Norfolk Southern railroad.
That phase, which included widening the bridge from four lanes to six lanes, is on track to wrap up this fall.
Drivers will then get a break before the second phase begins -- widening Route 22 to six lanes from the 15th Street/Mauch Chunk Road exits in Allentown and South Whitehall Township, to Airport Road in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.
That project had been in limbo until 2013 when then-Gov. Tom Corbett signed Act 89 into law, expected to generate $2.3 billion a year from higher gas taxes and motorist fees.
The widening project’s preliminary engineering, final design and right-of-way acquisition is listed on the 2019-2022 Transportation Improvement Program for a total of $26.1 million.
The second-phase widening is currently slated to go out to bid around 2020 or 2021.
If the bid is awarded in late 2021, residents won’t see construction until 2022, said Mike Rebert, district executive of PennDOT’s District 5. District 5 covers Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill counties.
As part of the first phase, the Fifth Street bridge was demolished and the road closed between Pershing Boulevard and St. Paul/Park Street. A new Fifth Street bridge is part of the widening project.
Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter@SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.