Post-July 4 traffic interruptions planned in West Newton, Salem

Motorists traveling in Westmoreland County after the Fourth of July weekend will encounter a road closure in West Newton and Route 22 lane restrictions in Salem.

PennDOT has announced drivers will be detoured around a section of West Newton’s East Main Street (Route 136) beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

The street will be closed between Water and First streets, until 7 p.m. July 9, to allow CSX crews to perform maintenance on railroad crossings.

A marked detour will direct motorists along routes 136 and 31, Interstate 70 and Route 51.

In Salem, crews are slated to apply a high-friction surface treatment on a segment of Route 22 at the intersection of Route 819, in the area known as Five Points.

As a result, drivers can expect short-term, single-lane restrictions on Route 22 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday through July 13.

The affected area will extend from Lake Drive, at the east end of the project, to Sauls Road, at the west end.

I-70 ramps remain closed

Farther south, along Interstate 70 in Sewickley Township, the eastbound on- and off-ramps at the Madison interchange (Exit 54) are expected to remain closed through late July. The closure is part of a nearly $93 million project to improve the Madison interchange and the Yukon interchange, to the west, as well as a stretch of the interstate between Madison and New Stanton, to the east.

Eastbound motorists intending to exit at the Madison interchange are being directed to continue east, to exit at the New Stanton interchange, and then to return west on I-70 and exit at the westbound Madison ramp.

Drivers who normally would enter I-70 eastbound at the Madison interchange instead will follow Wyano-Waltz Mill Road to use the on-ramp at the Yukon interchange.

South Huntingdon detour delayed

Another closure related to maintenance of a CSX rail crossing, this one in South Huntingdon, was to have occurred in late June, but it has been delayed until 7 a.m. on July 18.

Second Street will be closed near Stoney’s Brewery, tentatively until 7 p.m. on July 23. A posted detour will divert traffic along Second Street, Route 981 and Jacobs Creek/Stahl Road.

All of the construction schedules are subject to appropriate weather conditions.