2nd phase of road improvement project to start Monday

Staff report

FARRELL, PA.

Work is scheduled to get underway on the second phase of a project designed to make state Route 718 in Mercer County a safer, more-efficient and more-attractive travel corridor.

According to a news release from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, phase two of the Broadway Avenue Improvement Project is expected to begin Monday, weather permitting, and will focus on a 1.1-mile section of state Route 718 (Martin Luther King Blvd./Dock Street) from Roemer Boulevard in Farrell to Malleable Street in Sharon.

The road will be widened and reconstructed to provide a center left-turn lane and radius improvements at various intersections, PennDOT says.

Work will include sidewalks with brick pavers, concrete steps and highway lighting with decorative light poles.

The project also will provide new traffic signals at current signalized intersections and updated drainage, utilities, signs and landscaping.

The contractor is Kirila Contractors of Brookfield. The contract cost is $7.4 million, which is to be paid entirely with federal funds.

This phase of the project will be broken into three stages to be completed over two years.

The first stage, to be completed in 2015, will start at the state Route 718 intersection with Roemer Boulevard and extend to a point near Union Street in Farrell, PennDOT says.

The second and third stages – to be completed in 2016 – will start near Union Street and extend to a point near Malleable Street in Sharon.

The entire project is expected to be completed in November 2016.

Detours will be required during construction.