Allentown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Engineering District 5 announced today work will begin Monday, March 3rd, to replace the PA 183/Schuylkill Avenue Bridge over Norfolk Southern Railroad in the City of Reading, Berks County.
The project involves replacing the existing concrete encased steel I-beam bridge with a new concrete box beam bridge.
Beginning Monday, March 3, PA 183 will be closed and detoured between Green and Buttonwood streets. The detours are as follows:
• The primary truck detour will utilize US 222, US 422, and Penn Street. The secondary truck detour will utilize Schuylkill Avenue Southbound, West Greenwich Street, North 4th Street and Washington Street.
• The pedestrian detour will utilize Buttonwood Street, North Front Street and Green Street.
• The car detour will utilize Buttonwood Street, North Front Street and Greenwich Street. Motorists utilizing this detour need to be aware of the change in traffic pattern on North Front Street. The existing one-way northbound traffic on North Front Street between Greenwich and Buttonwood streets will be changed to two-way for the duration of the project. Parking on North Front Street will also be adjusted for two-way traffic.
The existing bridge is 78 feet long and 53 feet wide and was constructed in 1916. The new structure will be 60 feet long and 50 feet wide. This section of PA 183 has an average daily traffic of 6,878 vehicles.
Kinsley Construction, LLC of York, PA is the general contractor on the $8,473,315 project that is anticipated to be complete in fall 2026.
Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following local alerts on X.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Berks, Carbon. Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District5.
Information about infrastructure in District 5, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D5Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
Find PennDOT news on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
# # #