PA 191 “Stites Tunnel” Bridge Replacement to Begin in Pocono Township, Monroe County

Allentown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Engineering District 5 announced today work to replace the PA 191 “Stites Tunnel” Bridge over Paradise Creek in Pocono Township, Monroe County will begin next month. 

Work includes replacing the PA 191 Bridge over Paradise Creek and bridge roadway approach structures, installing new guide rail and line paint, and concrete repairs to the roadway tunnel under the Delaware Lackawanna Railroad.  

Work is scheduled to begin on January 2, with detours anticipated to be implemented on January 7.

Starting January 7 and lasting through the completion of the project, PA 191 will be closed and detoured between PA 447 and Stites Mountain Road. The posted passenger vehicle detour utilizes PA 715 and Clubhouse/Cherry Lane Road. A separate posted truck detour routes truck traffic on PA 447 and PA 390.  

H&K Group, Inc. of Skippack, PA is the general contractor on the $8,087,885 project that is anticipated to be complete in late December 2019.     

The PA 191 Bridge is a steel girder bridge that was constructed in 1911 and reconstructed in 1941. It is 533 feet long, 35 feet wide, and is posted with a 9-ton weight restriction (17-tons for combination vehicles). The new bridge will be a concrete box culvert that is 345 feet long, 33 feet wide and will have no restrictions. This section of PA 191 has an average daily traffic volume of 5,147 vehicles.

For more information on projects occurring or being bid this year, those made possible by or accelerated by the state transportation funding plan (Act 89), or those on the department’s Four and Twelve Year Plans, visit www.projects.penndot.gov.

Motorists can check 511PA before we they travel for the latest 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 860 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.

Follow regional PennDOT information on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAAllentown, and like the department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDepartmentofTransportation.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ronald J. Young, Jr., M.P.A., 610-871-4555, ronyoung@pa.gov; Sean A. Brown, 610-871-4556, sebrown@pa.gov.