Construction plagued motorists received some good news Friday.
The ramp from northbound Freeport Road to the Highland Park Bridge in Sharpsburg will reopen at 9 a.m. Monday and stay open until the project is completed in mid-November, PennDOT said.
A week ago, PennDOT announced it was permanently closing the ramp. That represented a significant change for thousands of drivers who use the Highland Park Bridge. That’s no longer the case.
During construction, every ramp in the interchange will be replaced, except for the one from Sharpsburg to the Highland Park Bridge which — eventually — will be eliminated.
When the project is completed, the current Highland Park Bridge onramp from Aspinwall will be accessible from Freeport Road in both directions.
Through construction, truck traffic will continue to use a detour route.
Pedestrians will still have access to the bridge via the ramp, which will serve as a temporary pedestrian detour once the contractor installs curbs.
“A constructability issue relating to pedestrian access was the impetus for the full closure of the ramp (last week),” said PennDOT District 11 Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni. “Kudos to the contractor and our construction team for finding a solution to accommodate most vehicles from having to use a lengthy detour, while still keeping pedestrians safe.”
