2 Years of Atherton Street Road Work Scheduled to Begin in Spring 2022

The timeline has come into focus for the next phase of road work on Atherton Street in State College.

Part of a long-term Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project to improve the road through the Centre Region, the work on 1.4-mile stretch from Curtin Road to just past Westerly Parkway will begin in mid-March 2022 and wrap up in the early summer of 2024, PennDOT representatives told State College Borough Council on Monday night.

Columbia Gas is scheduled to relocate gas lines around the 700 block of South Atherton Street and near the bus depot on North Atherton Street this fall in advance of substantial work beginning next year.

“The goal here is to really get in and get out as quickly as possible because … if we can do that that will enhance the motorist, pedestrian and worker safety,” Lou Spaciano, project manager for the design team from Borton-Lawson Engineering, said.

As previously reported, the project will involve utility replacement and relocation; roadway, drainage, pedestrian and traffic signal improvements; and streetscape additions along a portion of the work area.

A similar, three-year project on North Atherton Street between Aaron Drive and Curtin Road concluded last summer.

PennDOT plans to advertise the upcoming project for bid in February and work is scheduled to commence in mid-March with the start of sewer line relocation. Work will continue through the summers of 2022 and 2023 and conclude with final paving in milling starting in the spring of 2024..

The work area will be divided into four zones, with the greatest traffic impacts being scheduled for after Penn State’s spring semester has ended.

Work will begin in March with relocation of a portion of the borough sewer line from Railroad Avenue to College Avenue and Fairmount Avenue to Westerly Parkway.

PennDOT anticipates night, weekend and 24-hour-a-day work during several periods throughout each of the three construction seasons, “due to the complexity of some of the intersections,” PennDOT District 2 Engineer Eric Murnyack said. The borough will have to approve noise waivers to allow overnight work.

While traffic controls will largely consist of single lane closures and flagging operations, detours will be required when work is taking place in the College and Beaver avenue intersections.

Spaciano said the detours during working hours aim to use state roads, so will send eastbound traffic down College Avenue to Buckhout Street to Beaver Avenue to reach South Atherton Street and westbound traffic down West Beaver Avenue to High Street and back to College Avenue to reach North Atherton Street.

Borough Councilman Evan Myers called the detour “untenable” because it will be “parading” vehicles through the lengths of the Downtown or West End.

Murnyack said that typically municipalities do not want detours to use local roads that they responsible for maintaining but that PennDOT would be willing to work with the borough on alternates for the detour.

“Typically PennDOT detours are on state routes not local roads but we can take a look at the local network and see if there’s a way to mitigate that,” Borough Manager Tom Fountaine added.

Borough water line and sewer line relocations are scheduled to take place between College and Beaver from May 9 through July 22, 2022. Short-term detours would also be in place when drainage construction is underway in 2023.

No work will take place during special event periods such as the Fourth of July and the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

Short-term detours also are planned while sewer work is taking place at the intersections of Hamilton, Prospect Fairmount and Nittany avenues.

Night work is anticipated in June and July of 2023 during drainage and road work, and for final milling and paving in 2024.

“I give you a lot of credit,” Councilman Peter Marshall said. “You’re really doing detailed planning and that’s great. It’s going to be a problem no matter how you do it.”

Here’s a look at what the overall project will entail:

Roadway improvements

• Lanes will be configured to have a minimum 10-foot width to meet current state and federal requirements.

• Pavement mill and overlay and cross slope corrections will remove especially flat sections to help get water off the road and into the drainage system.

“The cross slope correction is important because we’re trying to eliminate any flat areas in the crown section of the roadway to make sure we get the runoff into the storm system,” Spaciano said.

• Full-depth pavement replacement in select locations.

• ADA curb ramp improvements

• Rec Hall driveway realignment

Drainage improvements

• Replace deteriorated drainage pipes and inlets

• Removing bumpout inlets and blind connections

• Adding new inlets to reduce ponding along the gutter line

• 1.5 foot gutter widths along the curbline

• Installing a flow bypass system to reduce frequency of flooding near the bus terminal. The bypass system will take some of the water from a low spot in the road to an additional system on College Avenue.

Traffic signal improvements

• Mast arm replacements at Curtin Road and White Course Drive.

• Traffic signal replacement at Railroad Avenue, College Avenue, Beaver Avenue and Westerly Parkway.

Pedestrian crossings

• ADA-compliant pedestrian push buttons will be installed at signalized crossings.

• Radar presence detection at at West Beaver Avenue and Westerly Parkway.

• At Foster, Fairmount, Hamilton and Logan avenues, preformed thermoplastic crosswalk with a brick-colored walkway and white edges will be set into the road to provide contrast from the black pavement.

• Rectangular rapid flashing beacons, activated by a push button, at those intersections.

“The intention here is to really bring as much attention as possible to the crosswalks to enhance pedestrian safety,” Spaciano said.

Streetscape

Work also will incorporate the borough’s streetscape project between West Beaver Avenue and Railroad Avenue. State College received a $935,000 state grant in 2018 for the project, which is designed for pedestrian safety and traffic calming.

It will include new sidewalk, pavers, decorative lighting, benches and garbage receptacles, as well as pedestrian fencing between West College and West Beaver avenues.