Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) reopened U.S. 219 (Mason-Dixon Highway) one mile north of Salisbury, Somerset County, just 10 days after the Boynton bridge over Piney Creek was damaged by flooding. The department and contractor partners completed a temporary structure over the creek to restore local travel after floodwaters destroyed the upstream center pier of the 102-year-old structure in the village of Boynton.
PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll personally visited Somerset County on May 16, where he and other PennDOT officials viewed the flood damage and laid out the department’s plan to quickly restore traffic flow by early June on the vital artery of commerce linking U.S. 219 to Interstate 68 in Maryland. This section of roadway carries an average of 4,700 vehicles daily and is an important artery for commercial and emergency vehicles as well as surrounding communities.
“When I visited the bridge, we said the goal was to quickly get people and local commerce moving through here again,” Carroll said. “PennDOT’s priority and our charge from Governor Shapiro is to help our communities and restore travel as quickly as possible. I’m proud that the department was responsive and effective in restoring traffic on U.S. 219 in Somerset County as we would be with any road, with any bridge, in any county in the state.”
The week of May 12 through May 16 saw significant rainfall and flooding in the area and in the interest of public safety, the PennDOT closed the bridge and implemented a detour and then developed a plan for the bridge’s replacement.
Work started on May 16 to remove pieces of the damaged bridge so a temporary structure could be placed over it. That temporary structure was installed over the bridge on Thursday, May 22, and Friday, May 23, and paving guiderail work and line painting was completed 12:00 PM on Saturday, May 24, and the roadway was reopened to traffic. The reopening also lifts the detours that were in place since Wednesday, May 14.
“Every county. Every community. Every time. That’s the Governor’s perspective. That’s my perspective as Secretary of Transportation,” Carroll said during his May 16 visit, comparing the plan for the southern Somerset County bridge to PennDOT’s 2023 reaction to the Interstate 95 (I-95) bridge collapse in Philadelphia, vowing that it would receive the same priority. “Route 14 in Lycoming County, Route 6 in Bradford County, Route 32 in Bucks County, and now U.S. 219 in Somerset. None of them are I-95, but it is PennDOT’s priority and response to catastrophes like this one to have those roadways open as quickly as possible.”
PennDOT is currently reviewing plans for the next phase of the project and developing a timetable for the construction of a permanent replacement of the bridge.
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 regional X alerts.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, and Somerset counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District9.
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