As work continues on PennDOT’s multi-year Atherton Street project in State College, here’s what motorists can expect for the week of May 1.
• Monday through Thursday, two crews will be working from Highland Avenue to West Nittany Avenue to install new waterline and services. Traffic will be controlled by flaggers using an alternating lane pattern.
• On Monday and Tuesday a third crew will be working in the West Beaver Avenue intersection to establish temporary traffic signals. Traffic will be reduced to one lane on South Atherton Street and one lane on West Beaver Avenue.
• On Wednesday and Thursday, a third crew will be working in the West College Avenue intersection to establish temporary traffic signals. Traffic will be reduced to one lane on Atherton Street and one lane on West College Avenue.
• No work is currently scheduled for Friday.
“Please pay attention to work zone and directional signage to enhance safety and keep traffic moving efficiently,” PennDOT wrote in a news release.
The current, multi-year Atherton Street project — which stretches from the Curtin Road intersection on North Atherton to just past the Westerly Parkway intersection on South Atherton — began in 2022, with sewer line replacement constituting the major work.
Expected to conclude in the fall of 2024, the overall $30.7 million project includes roadway reconstruction, drainage improvements, water and sewer lines, concrete curbing, sidewalks and detectable warning surfaces, pavement markings and traffic signals and supports.
Work in 2023 resumed at the end of February and is scheduled to include water line replacement from College Avenue to Westerly Parkway and drainage and streetscape improvements. In 2024, drainage improvements will take place at the north and south ends of the project and the entire project area will be milled and paved by the end of the year.
HRI, Inc. of State College is the contractor for the project.
It’s the third phase of Atherton Street work originating from a 2010 review of the entire corridor that showed a need for repairs and upgrades, primarily for drainage. The first two phases of improvements, similar to the current work, took place from the start of North Atherton Street near Gray’s Woods to Park Avenue.
