Butler area motorists have gotten upbeat news about the replacement of the Route 8 bridge over Route 422. The state Department of Transportation has announced that the project will be built without the necessity of a detour.

The current bridge's northbound lanes will be closed initially, putting two-way traffic on the southbound lanes. After new northbound lanes are in place, traffic will move to that side of the span for the time that the new southbound part of the bridge is being put in place.

PennDOT also has announced that, even when old beams are being removed and new beams are being put in place, Route 422 will not have to be shut down. Ramps will be used to enable "422" traffic to get around the work.

The PennDOT announcements should come as a relief to the thousands of motorists who travel in that area, especially the many who do so daily. PennDOT studies have revealed that 26,000 vehicles travel on the bridge each day, while 20,000 drive under the bridge on "422."

The bridge-replacement work is scheduled to take place between March and October. Thanks to good planning, what could have been a source of major travel inconvenience will be just a situation requiring a bit of patience at times.