BETHLEHEM, Pa. — PennDOT has announced what it describes as a successful construction season across Engineering District 5, with numerous active and completed projects in the Lehigh Valley.
PennDOT said the region has seen 87 active projects this year, with 39 completed. District 5 includes Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe and Schuylkill counties.
Work in 2025 included replacing or repairing 133 bridges and paving over 100 miles, in addition to the completion of an Interstate 78 project in Berks County.
Statewide, PennDOT said crews worked at improving 4.800 miles of road, including over 1,400 miles of paving, and beginning to repair, replace or preserve more than 368 bridges from January through October of this year.
The recently signed budget by Gov. Josh Shapiro “continues critical investments in repairing Pennsylvania’s vast road bridge network,” PennDOT officials said.
The biggest and costliest project completed in District 5 — and one of largest in the state — was the nearly $135 million job on Interstate 78 near the Berks-Schuylkill line.
In the east central region, 87 projects with a contract value of over $840 million are currently active.
A total of 54 projects were, or will be put out to bid, in 2025, with an estimated bid value of over $135 million.
“It was a great year for road and bridge projects, including a major I-78 project in Berks County,” District 5 District Executive Chris Kufro said.
“PennDOT will continue to work with regional planning partners to prioritize projects to improve safety and mobility in east central Pennsylvania.”
The biggest and costliest project completed in District 5 — and one of largest in the state — was work on the $134.6 million project to reconfigure and reconstruct the Interstate 78/Route 61 interchange ramps and related work near the Berks-Schuylkill line.
It also included widening and rehabilitation of the I-78 mainline arch bridge over the Schuylkill River; widening of the I-78 bridge over Port Clinton Avenue; replacement of the Route 61 bridge over I-78; and construction of retaining walls, sound barriers, sign structures, highway lighting, ITS devices, drainage system improvements, guide rail and safety barriers.
Under the Shapiro administration, PennDOT said, 17,722 miles of road has been improved and work has advanced on 1,540 state and local bridges.
Lehigh Valley improvements
Throughout the Lehigh Valley, hundreds of millions of dollars in funding have been invested in ongoing and nearly-competed projects.
Notable continuing projects in Lehigh County include:
- Reconstructing Route 309 at the Tilghman Street exchange in South Whitehall Township for $86.47 million;
- Improving I-78 with patching, milling, paving, safety barriers and draining improvements in Allentown, Salisbury and Upper Saucon townships for $37.8 million;
- Intersection and road improvements on Race Street in Catasauqua Borough for $10.2 million;
- Intersection and road improvements on Route 145 in Allentown for $7.36 million; and,
- Traffic signal improvements on Route 29 in Salisbury Township for $3.8 million.
Continuing projects in Northampton County include:
- Replacing the Route 33 north and south bridges over Bushkill Creek in Palmer Township and Stockertown Borough for $23.2 million;
- Route 248 realignment in Bath Borough for $5.42 million;
- Replacing the Hecktown Road bridge over Route 22 in Bethlehem Township for $4.7 million;
- Replacing the Farmersville Road Bridge over Route 22 in Bethlehem Township for $4.34 million; and,
- Route 611 Delaware Canal retaining wall replacement in Williams Township for $4.1 million.
Projects that were completed or substantially completed in Lehigh County include:
- Improvements to I-78 including patching, milling, paving, safety barrier and drainage improvements in Upper Macungie and Weisenberg townships for $13.4 million;
- Traffic signal improvements on Route 145/MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township for $6.6 million; and,
- Milling and paving Airport Road in Hanover Township and Allentown for $3 million.
In the same vein, completed or largely completed projects in Northampton County include:
- Replacement of the Newburg Road bridge over the East Branch of Monocacy Creek and replacement of the Newburg Road bridge over a tributary to the East Branch of Monocacy Creek in Lower Nazareth and Upper Nazareth townships for $6.2 million;
- Milling and paving Route 191 in Nazareth and Stockertown boroughs, Palmer, and Upper Nazareth townships for $3.52 million;
- Milling and paving Route 611 in Williams Township for $2.3 million;
- Replacement of the Lower South Main Street Bridge over Martins Creek in Washington Township for $1.9 million; and,
- Milling and paving Route 191 in Bethlehem and Lower Nazareth townships for $1.6 million.
