COLLEGEVILLE PA – Drivers traveling U.S. Route 422 west between Collegeville and Royersford, consider this your notice: the commute is about to get trickier.

Contractors pour concrete on the eastbound side of U.S. 422 near Royersford during June.

Construction on that portion of the four-lane limited access highway begins next Monday (Aug. 10, 2009), and for several hours daily some traffic along the 4-1/2-mile stretch could be restricted to a single lane, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced Thursday (Aug. 6, 2009).

Work on the westbound lanes of 422, roughly from the Collegeville exit at Route 29 to the Royersford exit at Township Line Road, is part of PennDOT’s more than $12 million reconstruction of both sides of that section of the road. The work is being funded by the federal government’s economic stimulus program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Crews are expected to begin saw-cutting areas of old concrete Monday in the roadbed. Traffic then will be reduced from two lanes to one from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., and then from 7 p.m. Monday to 2 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 11). After Monday, westbound 422 will be restricted to one lane weekdays from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m. the next afternoon.

Crews also will continue to replace deteriorated concrete on the east side, and soon will begin resurfacing those lanes, PennDOT added. Eastbound 422 is restricted to one lane weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning.

All westbound lanes will reopen before afternoon rush hours, PennDOT said.

The entire improvement project consists of removing deteriorated concrete pavement; pouring new concrete patches; resurfacing the concrete pavement with asphalt; repairing 12 bridges; repairing ramps at the Route 29 and Royersford interchanges; installing safety rumble strips on roadway shoulders; cleaning existing pipe culverts; and installing new guide rail, reflective pavement markers, and Intelligent Transportation System conduit.

A Posts' Report For ProPublica

Construction is scheduled to finish in July 2010.

Editor’s Note: This story and other news reporting by Sanatoga-based Career Education Media Ventures (CEMV), focusing on the use of federal economic stimulus funding in Pennsylvania infrastructure projects, is being shared with a national investigative journalism organization called ProPublica. The Sanatoga Post, published by CEMV, is a member of the ProPublica Reporting Network.

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