CRANBERRY TWP — Work on the Route 228 ramps to Interstate 79 in the township is slated to begin Oct. 8.

Bids for the project were opened Thursday.

The project will have preliminary work done this fall with the project being completed next summer.

A ramp will be added on the north side of Route 228 to swing westbound traffic onto I-79 without stopping.

A new loop ramp to access I-79 south will allow westbound Route 228 traffic to head south on I-79 without waiting for a signal light.

The apparent low bidder for the project is Swank Construction of New Kensington, Westmoreland County, at $14.8 million, about $700,000 less than the next lowest bidder.

There were six total bidders, according to Albert Fatula Jr., contract management supervisor for the State Department of Transportation District 10. The contract is expected to be awarded on Sept. 10.

Another Route 228 project will begin weeks earlier than the ramp project.

Work on the replacement and widening of the bridge just east of the Route 228 intersection with Mars-Valencia Road is to begin Sept. 10.

Ten companies bid on that project. The apparent low bidder is the Joseph B. Fay Co. of Russellton, Allegheny County, at $12.6 million. That contract is expected to be awarded on Aug. 27.

That project will include widening Route 228 to five lanes from the bridge west to the intersection at Warrendale Road. A taper lane will be added at Warrendale Road to ease traffic from five lanes into three without stacking up.

Preliminary work will begin this fall, but the bulk of the work will be done next summer.

PennDOT also plans improvements to the intersection of Route 19 and Freedom Road in 2014.

That project is in the preliminary stages so the specifics are not available, but it likely will include additional turning lanes.