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By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project slated for early next year is designed to keep traffic moving when it must be detoured off Interstate 81.

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Work will begin in January to ease traffic on Route 315, including this intersection at Oak Street in Pittston Township, in the event of closures on I-81.

Don Carey/the times leader

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Karen Dussinger, spokeswoman for the PennDOT regional office in Dunmore, said that when a report comes in of a crash, snowstorm or other serious event on the interstate a decision is made whether to divert traffic from the interstate to a nearby alternative route.

“Anyone who understands the logistics involved will tell you that it’s all a matter of timing – literally,” Dussinger said.

To alleviate or at least lessen delays, work will begin in January to upgrade, re-time and interconnect 12 signalized intersections along a 5.5 mile stretch of Route 315.

Dussinger said the project corridor begins at the Route 309 southbound ramp in Wilkes-Barre and extends northward through Plains Township, Laflin and Jenkins Township to Oak Street in Pittston Township.

Federal and state funds are being used for the $513,854 project. Kuharchik Construction Inc. of Pittston is the contractor.

“PennDOT traffic engineers and consulting engineers Pennoni Associates designed seven timing programs for the signals on Route 315 -- four to address normal traffic operations and three to address traffic operations in the event of a traffic emergency event on I-81,” Dussinger said.

PennDOT anticipates the project’s physical work to be completed in the spring with activation to follow system testing. Dussinger said the contractor has been given the go-ahead and is waiting for equipment and materials to arrive.

Dussinger said that if vehicles need to be detoured off I-81 and the signals aren’t synchronized, traffic must be manually directed in order to keep it moving.

“That is only part of the problem, but that’s the perfect example of why this is an important project,” Dussinger said.

PennDOT was part of the 2007 Interstate 81 Expanded Corridor Study, a project that reviewed traffic volume and flow in what is commonly referred to as “The Corridor” -- Exit 164 (Nanticoke) in Luzerne County to Exit 194 (Clarks Summit), in Lackawanna County.

“That critical north/south artery supports in excess of 35,000 vehicles per day, in each direction,” Dussinger said. “Built over 50 years ago, the roadway now serves many more commuters, through-traffic and tractor-trailers than its original design anticipated.”

With no letup seen in traffic volume, Dussinger said, PennDOT developed an alternate re-routing plan for the increasing likelihood of traffic-disrupting events on I-81.

“They reached out to various local agencies and municipalities in an effort to coordinate the emergency diversion of traffic to the Route 315 corridor, identified as one of the primary detour routes for the interstate,” Dussinger said. “Together they determined that interconnected traffic signals on the detour route would facilitate a smooth and efficient movement of traffic away from the incident.”

Dussinger said the technical challenge of the project was at times difficult. She said traffic engineers had to ensure that the timing and offsets from one signal to the next were precisely calculated to keep large volumes of detoured traffic flowing effectively.

“But there are other considerations beyond the technicalities,” Dussinger said. “Because the detour corridor spanned various municipalities, each needed to agree to accept and maintain the new signal and communication equipment needed to ensure proper operation of the emergency detour system.”

“The partnership among the municipalities helped make this essential detour route possible,” said George Roberts, PennDOT 4-0 district executive.

Dussinger said PennDOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems, a spectrum of communications tools -- traffic cameras, message boards, highway advisory radio transmissions, e- mail and text alerts as well as online “511” information services -- increase driver awareness of traffic situations and options for alternative travel in emergencies.

Bill O’Boyle, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.