Seven years ago, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission awarded a major contract to Urban for preliminary and final design to reconstruct and widen the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-476) from four to six travel lanes between the Mid-County Interchange (Milepost A20) and the Lansdale Interchange (Milepost A30).

The $300 million A20 to A30 construction project is now underway as the official groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 4th. Groundbreaking marks the start of construction of the $151 million southern section from Milepost A20 to Milepost A26.

Urban’s participants in the ceremony included Ed D’Alba, Matt Marquardt, Mike Wetzel, Mike Leinheiser, Jeff Kashuba, and Chuck Sublett.

This is the first total reconstruction on the Northeast Extension since the highway opened in 1955. The section between the Mid-County Interchange and the Lansdale Interchange is the busiest four-lane section of the entire Turnpike system with traffic averaging 65,000 vehicles per day.

The Turnpike Commission has now turned its attention to the design for widening the Turnpike north of Lansdale and has selected Urban to lead a team of consultants to develop the preliminary and final design. The new contract will reconstruct and widen the Turnpike from four to six travel lanes from Milepost A31.0 to A37.5 through Lower Salford, Franconia, and Salford Townships in Montgomery County. The Turnpike Commission estimates the construction cost of this section at $137 million.

Urban’s Team includes Ammann & Whitney, American Geotechnical & Environmental Services, Dawood Engineering, A.D. Marble & Company, and Czop Specter.