PennDOT to reveal new path for thruway in Snyder County

SELINSGROVE -- The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation plans to reveal the new location for an approximately two-mile section of the Route 15 bypass in Snyder County at a public meeting Nov. 15.

Feedback will be sought at the meeting to be held at the Selinsgrove Middle School, spokesman David Thompson said.

PennDOT's presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by an open house, he said.

PennDOT in May obtained feedback on three possible alternative routes for the highway -- known as the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway -- in the Hummels Wharf-Shamokin Dam area to avoid fly ash waste basins and to minimize acid rock excavation.

The results of the studies on those routes will be displayed at the meeting, Thompson said.

A new location had to be found for the four-lane divided highway because tests discovered the water level in the basins owned by Talen Energy was 10 feet below the surface.

The wet material would not support structures and it would be too costly to remove it, PennDOT said.

Besides unveiling the preferred route, PennDOT will outline steps it will take to complete the southern section between the northern end of the Selinsgrove bypass and near Winfield, Thompson said.

Construction is progressing on the northern section, which includes a 4,545-foot-long bridge across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

The southern section includes a connection with Veterans Memorial Bridge at Sunbury that is Route 61.

Despite the delay on the southern section, PennDOT has kept a 2024 completion date for the entire $670 million, 12.4-mile thruway.

The northern section is scheduled to be finished in 2021 but PennDOT has not said if it will open it then or wait until the southern section is completed.

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