Fixing the backups: PennDOT to unveil plans for I-79/Route 910 interchange

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will unveil preliminary plans Tuesday for a projected $45 million-$50 million reconfiguration of the crowded North Hills interchange at Interstate 79 and Route 910.

The project is designed to reduce congestion and improve safety at the interchange, particularly the northbound on and off ramps where traffic backs up. The agency says that leads to a high volume of rear-end collisions in that area.

The preliminary design will be presented during an online meeting from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. This is the link, and no advanced registration is required.

“Everybody that travels that area knows how much traffic backs up there,” said Doug Seeley, PennDOT’s assistant district engineer for design for Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties. The traffic buildup involves not just I-79 and Route 910 in Marshall and Franklin Park but also Brandt School Road, which is just east of the northbound interchange.

PennDOT said in 2019 more than 120,000 vehicles used I-79 in this area daily and nearly 26,000 vehicles per day used Route 910.

Seeley and project manager Zach Kamnikar wouldn’t discuss the exact proposal before the meeting, but they believe it will make the interchange safer and provide a better flow of traffic. The proposed work would involve the entire interchange with a concentration on the northbound connections.

“If nothing is done, the congestion is just going to get worse and worse,” Kamnikar said.

One of the major recommendations will be extending the length of the on and off ramps to prevent traffic from backing up onto the main road. The access points where motorists get on and off likely won’t change.

Despite the tight configuration now, Kamnikar said the agency doesn’t expect to take any property for the project. There could be a few easements needed from local property owners during construction to provide access to the site.

“One of the big aspects of this proposal is we aren’t foreseeing any need to take property,” Kamnikar said. “We definitely wanted to be mindful of the property owners in that area because there are a lot of businesses there.”

Plans call for completing the design by the end of this year and going out for bids the middle of next year. Construction is expected to take two years with the project finished by 2026.