REMINDER: Northbound I-79 Neville Island Bridge Weekend Closure July 9-12

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is reminding motorists the first of four northbound weekend closures on the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in Glenfield Borough and Robinson and Neville townships, Allegheny County, will occur Friday night, July 9 through Monday morning, July 12 weather permitting.

A full closure of the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in the northbound direction will occur from approximately 8 p.m. Friday night, July 9 continuously through 5 a.m. Monday morning, July 12 as crews conduct bridge and roadway concrete repairs, roadway patching, strip seal replacements, bridge jacking for steel repairs, bridge painting, and barrier spall repairs.

To allow the work to occur, all northbound traffic will be detoured. Beginning at approximately 8 p.m. Friday night lane closures will occur on northbound I-79 prior to the Pennsylvania State Police beginning a slow roll of northbound I-79 traffic at the Crafton/Moon Run (Exit 60) interchange. Troopers will direct all traffic to the detour route.

Posted Detour

  • From northbound I-79, motorists will exit at the Coraopolis/McKees Rocks (Exit 64) interchange
  • Turn left onto northbound Route 51 toward Coraopolis
  • Once through Coraopolis, stay in the left-hand lane and follow the signs to Route 65 Sewickley
  • Turn right and cross the Sewickley Bridge
  • Turn right onto southbound Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard)
  • Take the left-hand ramp to I-79 toward Erie/Washington
  • At the split, stay straight toward North 79 Erie
  • Follow the 79 North Erie sign by turning left onto Kilbuck Street
  • From Kilbuck Street, take the ramp to northbound I-79 toward Erie
  • End detour

Motorists on northbound I-79 may want to consider using I-376 (Parkway West) to I-279 (Parkway North) to avoid the detour route.

Police will assist motorists at key intersections during peak travel times. Motorists should expect delays.

Work on projects along the detour route will not occur this weekend.

Additionally, a lane closure will occur on southbound I-79 on the Neville Island Bridge during the weekend construction.

The $43 million I-79 Neville Island Bridge Rehabilitation Project includes structural steel repairs, full structure painting, bearing and deck joint replacements, deck repairs and overlays, bridge barrier repair, substructure concrete work and drainage improvements.  The project also includes concrete roadway reconstruction, guide rail replacement and preservation work on four sign structures. Additionally, preservation work will occur on the I-79 bridge over Deer Run Road, north of the Neville Island Bridge.  Motorists will see ramp closures and single-lane and shoulder closures in each direction on I-79 during daylight off-peak and overnight hours. Other traffic impacts include four northbound weekend closures in 2021 and four southbound weekend closures in 2022. The overall project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023.

The Trumbull Corporation is the prime contractor.

To help keep motorists informed as work progresses, PennDOT has created an email distribution list for the I-79 Neville Island Bridge rehabilitation including traffic advisories and construction updates. Enroll by sending email addresses to stcowan@pa.gov. Please write “Subscribe – I-79” in the subject line.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

The Beaver County Recovery Summit

On Friday’s Teleforum program CCBC’s Kolt Codner and BC Chamber of Commerces’ Helen Kissick joined host Eddy Crow to talk about the upcoming Beaver County Recovery Summit. The event is Thursday 7/15 taking place at the Golden Dome at CCBC and Teleforum will be broadcasting live during the event; a full schedule is available at CCBC.EDU/Events.

Boil Water Advisory in Conway Lifted

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Conway, Pa.) A Conway Borough Official announced Friday morning that water service has been restored in Conway.  The Boil water advisory has been lifted and was put in place yesterday due to multiple water line breaks. The boil advisory was issued as a precaution.

48 Hour Boil Water Advisory in Effect in Conway

(Conway, Pa.) Conway residents are being asked to boil their water. Due to multiple water line breaks a boil water advisory is in effect in for the next 48 hours. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano is looking into it and will get an update as soon as possible.

Aliquippa Police Promote One of Their Own To Captain

(Photo of Don Lane at his desk in 2019 as late Police Chief Robert Sealock and Sgt. Nicco D’Arrigo with k-9 Stella looking on.)

Story and Photo by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Aliquippa, Pa.) Aliquippa police Chief John Lane recommended at Wednesday night’s  Aliquippa City Council meeting, that was on Zoom,  that Officer Don Lane should be promoted to  captain. Chief Lane told council that Officer Don Lane has been doing the work of captain since August 2018, and he felt he was the most suitable candidate for the position. After the meeting City Council convened to an executive session  and approved the chief’s recommendation. Now Captain Lane will officially takes on the role of Captain immediately.

Aliquippa Woman Charged With D.U.I. After Traffic Stop in Beaver Falls

(Beaver Falls, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver reported yesterday that they have charged a 41-year-old Aliquippa woman with DUI on view of drugs after a traffic stop in Beaver Falls on May 29, 2021 at 7:05 PM.
Troopers state that they stopped a 2008 Pontiac G6 at 7th Ave and 4th St in Beaver Falls for committing a vehicle code violation. Troopers said that Angie Anzur was found to be impaired during the traffic stop and was arrested for suspicion of DUI. Charges are pending at District Court 36-1-02

Pfizer To Seek OK for 3rd Vaccine Dose; Shots Still Protect

Pfizer to seek OK for 3rd vaccine dose; shots still protect
By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer
Pfizer says it is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, but U.S. health officials say a booster isn’t needed yet. The company said Thursday that another shot could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant. Pfizer says early data from a company trial suggests people’s antibody levels jump after they get a third dose. But the filing doesn’t mean third doses would be rolled out any time soon. Public health officials would have to decide if they’re really needed. And U.S. health officials followed Pfizer’s announcement with a statement saying they want to see more data before authorizing booster shots.

Pennsylvania Would Get $225M In Revamped Opioid Agreement

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state attorney general’s office says Pennsylvania would receive $225 million to fight the opioid-addiction epidemic from a new agreement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. Attorney General Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania was among the state attorneys general who had opposed Purdue’s original settlement proposal, before joining an agreement with 14 other states that was disclosed late Wednesday night. Weeks of mediations resulted in changes to Purdue’s original plan, including an increase in the original $3 billion offered to $4.5 billion. Purdue sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 as a way to settle about 3,000 lawsuits over its marketing of the prescription painkiller.

Election audit Plan a ‘Disgrace to Democracy,’ Governor Says

Election audit plan a ‘disgrace to democracy,’ governor says
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf says it’s a “disgrace to democracy” that a Republican state lawmaker is trying to launch what he calls a “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election, similar to what’s happening in Arizona. Wolf, a Democrat, said on Twitter on Thursday that the “sham election audit” being attempted by Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano is also a “profound waste of time and taxpayer money.” Wolf’s administration has discouraged counties from cooperating, saying they risk decertifying their voting machines and costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

State-Endangered Night Herons Find Refuge in Urban Harrisburg

Keystone State News Connection

July 9, 2021

Emily Scott

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Some rare birds that have called Harrisburg’s tall sycamore trees home are taking flight this week.

Yellow-crowned night herons have found unexpected habitat in Harrisburg’s urban Midtown neighborhood.

The species was deemed endangered by the state in 1999.

Sean Murphy, state ornithologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said the herons were first spotted in Harrisburg around 2013, where they enjoy easy access to the wide and shallow Susquehanna River and feast on the crayfish.

Murphy outlined one theory about why the species ended up in Harrisburg is the protection from natural predators.

“And I think that maybe in these urban settings, raccoons and possums, they’re still there, but it’s almost like they have enough food around from dumpsters and other places where they’re able to locate enough food, that maybe they’re not scrambling up these trees trying to find a bird nest,” Murphy explained.

Murphy pointed out efforts to improve water quality in the Susquehanna, along with state endangered species protections, have helped keep the night herons safe during mating season.

The migratory birds are normally found in the state capital from April to October.

Jen Hirt, associate professor of English at Penn State Harrisburg and a Harrisburg resident, said she became fascinated with the herons when she first saw them, and now keeps track of when they arrive each year.

Hirt remarked she has noticed other people in the city have also grown fond of them.

“You know, when I think back 10 years ago, people would see these birds and kind of complain a little bit,” Hirt recounted. “‘Oh, that bird is so messy, it just poops all over my car, it’s really loud.’ But now, when I talk to people or post something to one of our social media pages, there’s almost always a greater understanding of why we should protect these birds and just kind of let them come back every year.”

Hirt added her heron count this year is lower than usual, but she hopes it means they’re back on the small islands along the Susquehanna, where they were first spotted regionally in the 1990s.