Pennsylvania transportation officials should start work next winter on widening and improving Route 61 through Schuylkill Haven, a project engineer said Wednesday.
At the Schuylkill County commissioners meeting, Lisa Mahall, county engineer and real estate director, said two traffic signals along Route 61 in North Manheim Township, one at the University Drive intersection near Penn State Schuylkill and the other at Route 183 near the Manheim Diner, will be upgraded as part of that long-awaited project.
"They're going to be upgraded with GPS (Global Positioning System) coordination," Mahall told the commissioners. "I assume the GPS is for traffic flow."
The commissioners are expected at their April 24 meeting to OK submitting the applications to the state Department of Transportation for its approval of the new traffic signals, commissioners Chairman Frank J. Staudenmeier said after Wednesday's meeting.
Submission of the application represents another significant step in the project to improve one of the major transportation bottlenecks in Schuylkill County.
PennDOT has proposed widening Route 61 to four lanes through Schuylkill Haven. The road is four lanes both north and south of the borough, but narrows to two lanes through it, resulting in traffic delays.
The last significant changes to that portion of Route 61 occurred about 10 years ago and involved installation of Jersey barriers and jughandles in North Manheim Township between Pottsville and Schuylkill Haven.
Mike Hummel, an engineer with Alfred Benesch & Co., Pottsville, the prime consultant hired by PennDOT for the project, said Wednesday that the updates in the lights are part of the widening project and will help traffic flow.
"The lights will be coordinated. It's a time-based coordination system with a GPS clock," he said.
Staudenmeier said the county already owns the traffic lights.
Hummel said the changes made to the lights should mean better traffic flow through Schuylkill Haven.
Motorists should see progress later this year on the project, according to Hummel.
"The project will be advertised and let (out for bids in) late summer or early fall," he said. Then, work will start during the winter of 2013-14, according to Hummel.