LANCASTER, Pa. — Rain or shine, a large road project is pushing through in Lancaster County on Mother's Day weekend.
"We’re really just going to rip the band-aid off this weekend, get that thing down," PennDOT District 8 spokesman Dave Thompson said.
Crews are set to demolish the Route 222 south bridge at the Route 30 interchange, Thompson says traffic will have to come to a stop.
“We're going to be closing Route 30 at the bridges and we're going to be diverting traffic," Thompson said "There's going to be four separate detours."
Route 30 and the northbound Route 222 bridge over Route 30 will be closed starting at 9 p.m. with detours on Lititz and Oregon Pike. PennDOT plans to reopen the Interchange by 5 a.m. Monday morning.
The improvements being made are aimed at making the road safer and larger to meet demand, with six lanes on Route 222,
"There are a lot of congestion," Thompson said. "The project is designed to increase capacity, improve efficiency and move traffic through there more efficiently."
According to PennDOT, this is one of the busiest interchanges in all of central Pennsylvania.
"It's a really busy interchange," Thompson said. "More than 100,000 vehicles a day, possibly up to 150,000 vehicles per day."
Justin Collazo from Lancaster does his best to avoid Route 30.
"From like 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. it’s not a good area to pass on," Collazo said. "It gets bad, it gets bad."
It's also an inconvenience to people like Adam Dombach, who does not drive through the interchange often.
"Especially with all the traffic backed up it’s, it’s a pain in the butt," Dombach said.
The work falls on Mother's Day weekend, though PennDOT officials want this heavy construction to be completed before the unofficial start to summer travel later this month with Memorial Day weekend.
"There's really no good time to shut it down," Thompson said. "
Drivers should expect detours and delays, and plan accordingly.
"We really urge people to avoid the area if possible," Thompson said. "If they got to go through there, give themselves plenty of time for their travels.”
- The detour for eastbound Route 30 will use Route 501 (Lititz Pike) south to Route 222 south to Duke Street to Route 23 east to Route 30.
- The detour for eastbound Route 30 to northbound Route 222 will use Route 272 (Oregon Pike) to Jake Landon Road and northbound Route 222.
- The detour for westbound Route 30 will use northbound Route 222 to the Route 272 (Oregon Pike) Exit, Butter Road north to Route 272 south to southbound Route 222 and westbound Route 30.
- The detour for southbound Route 222 to eastbound Route 30 will use Route 501 (Lititz Pike) south to Route 222 south to Duke Street to Route 23 east to Route 30.
The demolition and closure are one part of a bigger improvement project with the interchange. Work in the area is expected to be complete by September of 2027 and cost more than $72 million.