Work Added for Thursday on Atherton Street Project; Travel Delays Expected

Motorists should expect longer delays resulting from work added for Thursday on the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Atherton Street project in State College.

“Necessary drainage work” at the intersection of South Atherton Street and Westerly Parkway is expected to cause delays for the morning and late-afternoon commutes, according to a PennDOT news release on Wednesday.

Lane closures will begin as early as 7 a.m. and are expected to be completed by 5 p.m. The traffic signal at the intersection will be placed in “flash” mode. Flaggers will control vehicle traffic and assist with pedestrian traffic.

No work on the project is scheduled for Friday.

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.