Valley Street project moves on

Municipal authority work complete; PennDOT ready to start in 2023

LEWISTOWN -- Save your stamp -- Craig Bubb already has heard your complaint about the ongoing work on Valley Street.

"No one likes to see holes in a brand-new roadway when the water or gas company tears up the street," said Bubb, executive director of the Mifflin County Municipal Authority.

"It's a point of contention," he added. "Just like you can't predict when a water main is going to break. We tried to plan our improvements ahead of the main road resurfacing project."

In this instance, MCMA's Valley Street work was coordinated with an upcoming project involving the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. MCMA had to be finished on Valley Street prior to the spring for a separate job being performed by the PennDOT, which is replacing the entire street from its base, as well as replacing curbing, sidewalks and storm drains.

That job will require complete closure of Valley Street from Valley Street/Oak Street intersection to Five Points.

"When it's done, it will be a brand-new Valley Street from Ort Valley Road to the Five Points," said Bubb of the PennDOT project, which is expected to take the "biggest part of 2023" to finish.

"Valley Street has been an awful road to drive on for 10 to 15 years," he added. "This will give the main artery -- going toward to Burnham and those areas and heading out to Electric Avenue -- a complete facelift."

Bubb talked with PennDOT inspectors throughout his project, which wrapped up on Oct. 13.

"They are looking to mobilize in late winter or early spring," Bubb said. "They are hoping for a start date of April 1, pending the weather."

The Penn DOT project includes utility and sidewalk work, with water line and utility work being addressed through coordinated work and cost sharing with the borough and local utilities, said Marla Fannin, community relations coordinator with PennDOT.

Since this is a PennDOT Connects project, the municipality has been continuously involved in the project process, she explained. PennDOT Connects makes the planning process for projects of this type more collaborative with borough and local utilities involved to ensure their needs are being met.

The project was bid in late August at $5.4 million, with $2 million of that coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The contractor will be Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. of State College.

In preparation for that PennDOT project, MCMA replaced one mile of aged 10-inch waterline that Bubb said had been installed prior to 1900. They also installed a new water main and replaced seven fire hydrants and 150 customer service connectors to the newly installed water line.

There are still a few items, mostly cosmetic changes, for MCMA to complete.

"For the most part, we're done," Bubb said. "We wanted to get the road passable for winter."

Trying to work over the winter months would have been difficult with the weather, which is why it was completed in the fall.