Freedom Road bridge finished
CRANBERRY TWP — Cranberry, county and state officials on Thursday cut the ribbon on the new bridge carrying Freedom Road over the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Township supervisors; state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st; county commissioner Kim Geyer and commissioners chairwoman Leslie Osche; and PennDOT District 10 Executive Brian Allen celebrated the opening of the roughly two-and-a-half-year project constructing a six-lane bridge with upgraded or replaced traffic signals carrying Freedom Road over the state's main toll highway.
The project, which is the first of several along the Freedom Road corridor from Route 19 to the Beaver County border, required only short-term closures during its construction, and the bridge was built off-site and assembled during the brief weekend road closures.
Along with the new, six-lane road and traffic signals, the project upgraded lighting in the area, widened and paved the road and included improvements to the drainage.It's the second of two infrastructure-related ribbon-cuttings in the township this month, with the MSA Thruway's completion — but not its opening — celebrated earlier in October.And like the Thruway, the Freedom Road bridge was completed with cooperation between local, county and state officials, and two U.S. Department of Transportation BUILT grant awards have been received to help fund the expansion of Freedom Road westward of the turnpike overpass.Next in line to be completed is the expansion, with multimodal improvements, of Freedom Road between Commonwealth Drive and Haine School Road, which began this year and will be completed by fall 2022. The Commonwealth-to-Haine project is funded with a $20 million BUILD grant, secured in 2018.In two years, the township expects the expansion and improvements along Freedom Road between Haine School Road and Beaver County to begin, with completion by fall 2024. A $25 million BUILD grant, secured in 2020, will help pay for the project. Its first phase will be from Haine School to Powell roads, with a second expansion phase from Powell to Lovi roads, the latter of which is at the Beaver County border.
