Route 981 improvement project triggers nighttime closures in Mt. Pleasant Township

A section of Route 981 in Mt. Pleasant Township will be subject to weeknight closures as work proceeds to update the road as part of PennDOT’s Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project.

Beginning on Monday, the road will be closed to traffic between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. Monday evenings through Friday mornings, from the Pennsylvania Turnpike overpass south to the crossroads of Hecla Road and State Street.

The closures are expected to continue for about four weeks, weather permitting, and will allow crews to haul excavated material using oversized vehicles.

During the closures, through traffic on Route 981 will be redirected along a posted detour including portions of Routes 819, 31 and 982 and Kecksburg Road.

Traffic from areas to the north will have local access to Fiedors Grove Road from Route 981, controlled by a flagger as needed. Those headed to Fiedors Grove Road from the south will follow a detour including portions of State Street, Viking Drive and Slope Hill Road.

The excavation work is part of the first of three planned phases of the Laurel Valley road project, which is intended to improve curves and intersections over an 11.5-mile stretch of the Route 819 corridor, between Route 819 in Mt. Pleasant Township and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in neighboring Unity Township.

Officials ceremonially broke ground for the project in November in the Mt. Pleasant Township village of Norvelt. Bill Kovach, district executive for PennDOT District 12, has said the overall cost of the three phases, along with that of a previous upgrade of Route 981 between Route 30 and the airport, is expected to exceed $150 million.

Contractor Walsh Construction is handling the project’s first phase, pegged at $55 million. A field office has been set up in the former Key Bank building along Route 981 just south of the Kecksburg Road intersection in Norvelt.

The first, southernmost section of the project covers 4.5 miles between Route 819 and Norvelt. The central section, between Norvelt and Route 130 in Unity, includes a shift from Route 981 to follow a portion of Route 2023. The northernmost section will extend from Route 130 to the area of the airport and the Westmoreland County Airpark.

Six roundabout intersections are slated for the project, including three in the first phase: at routes 819 and 981; at Hecla Road, State Street and 981; and Mt. Pleasant, Kecksburg and Hecla roads at 981, which all converge in Norvelt.

Visit laurelvalleyproject.com to learn more about the project.