Route 72 resurfacing will be done at night, PennDOT tells planning group

The resurfacing of state Route 72 from the Lebanon-Lancaster county line to Rocherty Road will be done at night — from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. — with the roadway mostly open during daytime hours.

PennDOT District 8 staff provided that update to members of the policy committee of the Lebanon County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) at its recent meeting.

“There’s been a lot of questions in the last week about detour signs,” said Emily Osalka with District 8. “The signage is for detouring of the ramps at U.S. 322/SR 117 and at the U.S. 322/SR 72 interchange. No two ramps will be closed at the same time.”

In the past several weeks, PennDOT has parked more than two dozen signs along the shoulders of state Route 117 from Colebrook to Miners Village in Cornwall in preparation for the upcoming road work.

“Various detours are expected to begin in early July for tree trimming and stormwater drainage,” said Dave Thompson, District 8 spokesman, in an email. “There will be a total of 14 detours which will be restricted to nighttime hours.”

Only one detour will be implemented at a time, he added.

When the actual resurfacing will start is currently unknown. The intention is to start by the beginning of August, but this depends on completion of stormwater drainage work, Thompson said.

The current work schedule is Sunday through Thursday nights with Friday night reserved for a rain night, according to Thompson. There will be no work during the day and on weekends.

Policy committee members also heard that about 30 people attended a second open house on the MPO’s Route 72 and Cornwall Road corridor study. Jon Fitzkee, senior transportation planner for the county, said the study will guide special projects within the corridor.

“Having this study with recommendations will help us in securing new sources of funding for the projects,” Fitzkee said.

The policy committee unanimously approved drafts of the following:

• Title VI policy statement that outlines the MPO’s outreach efforts to ensure staff and programs do not engage in any discrimination based on race, color, national origin, disability, or socioeconomic status.
• Air quality determination report that addresses how the MPO measures the impact of programmed and planned projects on air quality.
• Air quality resolution that certifies that the MPO has completed what is needed for state and federal regulations to adhere to air quality conformity.
• MPO self-certification resolution that outlines all of the processes and requirements the MPO must follow to update TIP documents.
• 2027 TIP revision procedures document that describes the processes the MPO follows to adjust or change the TIP once adopted.
• The draft 2027-30 TIP highway and bridge and transit projects. These documents don’t become official until Oct. 1, the start of the 2027 federal fiscal year.

The LEBCO MPO Policy Board will next meet at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 20, in room 207, Lebanon Municipal Building, 400 8^th St., Lebanon. Meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.