SR 0286-49A Urban Corridor Reconstruction
The portion of SR 0286 between Rustic Lodge Road and US 422 in White Township, Indiana County, is a congested urban arterial. The roadway links Indiana Borough and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus with a commercial district extending out to the US 422 interchange. A large industrial park has been constructed beyond the interchange and the first tenant has begun operations. Therefore, PennDOT District 10-0 elected to perform a corridor widening with safety and operational improvements.
Gibson-Thomas was selected to design the resulting SR 0286-49A project. The total length of the corridor is 1.5 miles, with an additional 0.5 miles along SR 4422 (Indian Springs Road). The scope of the project was to widen SR 0286 and SR 4422 to meet current design criteria and capacity needs. An additional through lane is proposed along SR 0286 from the intersection with Plaza Road to the intersection for the Indiana Mall. SR 4422 will be widened at the intersection with SR 0286 so that dual lefts can be turned to the additional through lanes on SR 0286. The intersection of SR 0286 and SR 4422 has an existing LOS E with a total delay of 73.5 seconds, while the proposed intersection has a LOS C with a total delay of 32.9 seconds. The project also includes the following improvements:
- Replacement of SR 0286 structure over McCarthy Run with a seven-day detour
- Five new traffic signals coordinated along the corridor
- Providing a full width two-way left turn lane between the signalized intersections
- Removing the wide median in Plaza Road to turn dual lefts on SR 0286
- Adding a five foot bike lane to each side of SR 0286 from Plaza Road to Rustic Lodge Road
- Providing safe ADA complaint crosswalk at all signalized intersections
- Continue bike lane signing and pavement marking on Rustic Lodge Road and Saltsburg Avenue to provide connection to existing bike lanes along SR 3043 (Rose Street)
- Adding a five foot concrete sidewalk to portions of both sides of SR 0286 and several intersecting roads
- Constructing three new stormwater management basins
- Adding three water quality inlets to minimize the silt entering the impaired streams
- Placing riparian plantings along existing streams
- Improving Intersection Sight Distance at the Indian Springs Road and Birchwood Drive intersection
- Adding a cul-de-sac to Lazor Street to eliminate a sharply skewed intersection with Indian Spring Road
- 32 right-of-way claims on a project with 40 parcels and no total takes or significant loss of business
- Cooperation with existing utilities to minimize impacts to existing features; in particular, by shortening the endsection on the structure replacement to avoid fiber optic lines
- Incorporating the waterline and sanitary relocations into the construction project to minimize delays and conflicts
The traffic control for the project maintained one lane of traffic in each direction at all times except for the seven-day detour on SR 0286 for the culvert construction.
The project was let on October 10, 2019 and is anticipated to be complete in the fall of 2023.
