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 8 — and a look ahead to some significant detours later in the month.
• Monday through Thursday, two crews will be working from Highland Alley to West Fairmont Avenue to install new waterline and services and remove old waterlines, according to PennDOT. Traffic will be controlled by flaggers using an alternating lane pattern.
• Monday through Thursday, a third crew will be working in the College Avenue intersection to establish temporary traffic signals. Traffic will be reduced to one lane on Atherton Street and one lane on College Avenue.
• Monday through Friday, a fourth crew will be working from College Avenue to Westerly Parkway removing trees previously identified in the design phase of the project.
• No work other than tree removal is scheduled for Friday.
Looking ahead to the coming weeks, PennDOT plans for detours to be in place for work on the project.
• Beginning the week of May 15 and continuing until early July, an eastbound closure will be in place on South Atherton Street between College Avenue and West Beaver Avenue. Eastbound traffic will be diverted at College Avenue and use the Atherton Street downtown detour (College Avenue to Buckhout Street to Beaver Avenue). Westbound Atherton will remain open.
• Beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 19, the Beaver Avenue intersection will be closed for a 60-hour detour to install new drainage. PennDOT expects to end the closure and detour at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 22. Eastbound traffic will be directed to use the Atherton Street general detour. Westbound traffic will be directed to use the Beaver Avenue general detour.
The current, three-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.
