Part of new Hermitage roundabout to open | Local News – Sharonherald

TANNER MONDOK | HeraldConstruction workers continue to make progress on the Hermitage roundabout project Wednesday near the Shenango Valley Mall. Half of the circle will open to one lane of eastbound traffic today.

HERMITAGE Drivers will find themselves using part of Hermitages new roundabout this afternoon at East State Street and the Shenango Valley Freeway, while crews continue shooting for their October completion deadline.

Today marks the beginning of the roundabout projects third phase. Its southern portion will open to eastbound traffic traveling in the direction of Sharon toward Mercer. However, westbound traffic will continue using a temporary road on the edge of the Shenango Valley Mall north of the roundabout, PennDOT Project Manager Reggie Jannetti said.

Phase three is expected to take about two weeks, after which phase four, which calls for opening the roundabouts northern portion to westbound traffic traveling from Mercer toward Hermitage. Phase four is expected to take until the end of October, Jannetti said.

Well have to reconstruct the mall driveway, and we have a little portion of the roundabout that wed have to finish on the northern side, Jannetti said.

Phase five of the project is expected to begin in late October or the first week of November, when crews will do some minor work such as highway lighting, landscaping and pavement markings. The current detours will remain in place until then, Jannetti said.

The center of the roundabout will also have plantings and a wall reading, Hermitage, Pennsylvania, with some lighting to illuminate the sign.

Itll be a nice gateway into the city of Hermitage, he said.

Work on the roundabout was originally expected to be completed by Sept. 21, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed that deadline back to Oct. 31.

Aside from the temporary halt on construction projects, crews had to endure extra safety measures at the work site, including daily meetings, wearing masks and health screening questions. Though the new measures didnt necessarily affect the project, Jannetti said Gov. Tom Wolfs office relaxed some measures.

Workers were allowed to take their masks off when they were at least 15 feet apart, although the masks still had to be under their chins or in their pockets. Workers were also allowed to work without their masks on if they were paving asphalt, Jannetti said.

When youre paving, that asphalt comes out at 300 degrees, Jannetti said.

Workers were also allowed to work without their masks for days with certain temperatures and humidities, when wearing a mask could present a health concern for workers. This was particularly helpful during the hotter days earlier this summer, Jannetti said.

Out here in those 90-degree days, it wasnt pleasant, he said.

Instead of working the usual eight or 10 hours, Jannetti said the contractors have been putting in 10- to 12-hour days for the last several weeks to meet the deadline. While conditions could still affect progress, the roundabout is expected to be completed by late October or the first week of November if the weather remains dry.

The past three weeks have been busy in terms of traffic congestion due to multiple operations, such as paving and pouring concrete, going on simultaneously. Jannetti said local businesses are through the worst of it, with access maintained to nearby businesses such as Dunkin Donuts, Cornmans Sweeperland and Smokey Martins restaurant.

The morning rush hours have been busy, and its probably been a little bit of an inconvenience to some of the patrons, but the businesses have worked very well with us, he said.

Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.

Read the original:
Part of new Hermitage roundabout to open | Local News - Sharonherald