Exit 3 work underway

Safety markers went up about three weeks ago, when PennDOT began work at exit 3. The state will change the layout of the south on and off ramps to I-81, widen the roadway, make repairs, and finally put a new deck on the bridge.

Alan High, Franklin County Construction Inspection Manager, said PennDOT was a little behind schedule moving utility lines. The excavating crew was working on moving dirt.

The project would take place in phases, with traffic directed as needed, High said. The on ramp will be moved closer to the bridge.

“The off ramp has the more pronounced change,” he continued.

It will be shifted closer to Kiser’s Auto Repair, with a traffic light installed at the U.S. 11 intersection. The path will lead to the entrance of Antrim Commons Business Park.

While Antrim Township is the local lead agency on the project, no money is committed from the municipality, said Brad Graham, Antrim administrator.

“PennDOT is taking care of everything.”

He anticipated the ramps would be done at the end of the 2013 construction season, and travelers would see some temporary delays as they drove through the zone. The bridge work was due to be completed in the spring of 2014. During that improvement, Graham said one lane would be closed. Motorists heading south on U. S. 11 would be detoured onto I-81 to exit 1. They would have to double back to State Line and the area south of exit 3.