Public Meeting & Plans Display
2026 I-81 Northbound Bridge over West Foothills Drive Project
Date: December 12, 2023
Time: 4:30 - 6:00 PM (Plans Display), 6:00 PM (Presentation at the Butler Township Supervisors Meeting)
Location: Butler Township Municipal Building, 83 Corporate Drive, Drums, PA 18222
Project Description
The existing structure is a concrete spread box beam bridge with an overall structure length of 127'. The existing structure is in poor condition and does not meet current design standards. The bridge will be replaced with a wider structure to provide the required lane and shoulder widths and maintain two lanes of traffic during all stages of traffic control. The project also consists of the construction of a stormwater management facility along the northeast quadrant of I-81 NB/West Foothills Drive.
Traffic Control/Impacts
You will probably be most interested in the timing of the project and the impacts to traffic during construction. This information along with detour plans can be found on the referenced website, but can be summarized as follows:
- Construction is anticipated to begin in the Spring of 2026 and complete by fall of 2027.
- Traffic impacts are summarized below but the exact timing of the traffic impacts summarized below will not be determined until later in the design process:
- I-81 Northbound: Short-term single lane closures for inside and outside shoulder work. Overnight short-term right lane closures to deliver beams for the third stage of construction.
- I-81 Southbound: Overnight short-term left lane closures to deliver beams to the project for the second stage of construction.
- West Foothills Drive: Short-term and long-term detours will be necessary for full-depth roadway reconstruction as well as bridge demolition and construction.
- From eastbound T-425 (West Foothills Drive) turn left onto T-338 (Center Hill Road).
- Turn right onto T-429 (Butler Dr./W.Butler Drive).
- Turn right onto County Highway 39 (South Beisels Road)
- Turn right onto SR 3021 (Old Turnpike Road)
- Merge onto T-376 (Short Street)
- Turn left onto T-425 (West Foothills Drive).
- End of detour. Westbound detour same in opposite direction.
Plans displayed at the Butler Township Building, 83 Corporate Drive, Drums, PA from 12/12/2023 to 1/5/2024. JMT representatives will be present before the Supervisors meeting starting at 4:30 PM to answer any questions from the public. The JMT representatives will also make a very brief presentation about the project during the meeting. The plans will remain on display until 1/5/2024.
