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Pa. Route 60 to be renamed I-376 from Mercer Co. to Pittsburgh
Officials hope the name change will help attract businesses to the county.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Redesignation of Pa. Route 60 through Lawrence County as Interstate 376 could come as early as this fall, according to a state official in the wake of Tuesday’s announcement that $13.1 million in federal stimulus funds will be used to upgrade the highway in the county.
Local officials expect the re-naming to be a selling point to attract business.
“It will help our marketing to be able to say that an interstate runs through the middle of the county,” said Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler on Wednesday. Vogler noted that in past talks with businesses interested in locating here, officials have used the proximity of Interstates 76, 79 and 80 as selling points.
Press officer Jim Struzzi of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Bridgeville office said that the state has a request in with the Federal Highway Administration to redesignate the entire road from Mercer County to Pittsburgh as I-376, and that request could be granted as early as this fall.
The local improvements to the highway were set to begin in the fall anyway, and Struzzi said the stimulus money was assigned to the project because it is shovel-ready.
The money will be used for interchange upgrades, additional lanes and sign improvements. The work is expected to be completed by February 2011.
He said the effect of the stimulus-money award will be to free up other funds for other projects in the PennDOT district that takes in Lawrence, Beaver and Allegheny counties.
The road is now known by several names between Mercer County and Pittsburgh. Starting at Mercer County, it is Pa. Route 60 through Mercer and Lawrence counties, then becomes U.S. Route 22/30 in Robinson Township, then I-79, then I-279 and then I-376 or the Parkway East in downtown Pittsburgh.
The part of Route 60 in Lawrence and Beaver counties that is a toll road will remain so, Vogler said.
Struzzi said that the number of people to be employed by the project won’t be determined until the project is bid.
The award is part of 52 projects added this week to Pennsylvania’s list of highway and bridge improvements being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.