Detour will be in place during closure
DRIFTING – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has announced that slide repair work on a section of Route 53 (Kylertown/Drifting Highway) is scheduled to begin on Monday, Aug. 12.
This work zone is located about 2.5 miles north of the village of Drifiting, near the Clearfield/Centre County line.
Traffic through this area is currently restricted to one-lane at a time but to perform the repair work, this section of Route 53 will be closed starting Monday and a detour will be in place. Repairs will allow PennDOT to reopen both traffic lanes. All work is weather dependent.
An official 15-mile detour for Route 53 will be implemented the morning of Aug. 12 and will continue until early November when the project is expected to complete. The detour will utilize Route 53, Route 144 and Interstate 80.
Local traffic traveling north on Route 53 from Kylertown will be permitted to access the Drifting area and traffic traveling south on Route 53 from Snowshoe will be permitted access as far as the bridge crossing Moshannon Creek.
A bicycle detour will also be in effect during this time utilizing state Route 1011 (Rolling Stone Road) to PA 879 to PA 144 in Snowshoe for bicyclists traveling between Kylertown and Snowshoe.
Overall work on this design-build project will include construction of two retaining walls as well as 600 feet of roadway reconstruction. All work is weather dependent. HRI Inc. of State College is the contractor for this $1.8 million project.
PennDOT reminds drivers to follow official detour signs, use caution in all work zones, obey posted speed limits and always buckle up.
PennDOT encourages drivers to “Know before they go” and to check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com.
511PA is free, available 24 hours a day and provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 950 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA Web site.
Subscribe to PennDOT news in Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin and Potter counties at www.penndot.gov/District2.
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