Progress continues on southern section of thruway project

May 10—SELINSGROVE — As work on the southern section of the Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation project continues, parts of the thruway already opened seem to be helping with traffic flow as intended.

The recently opened roundabout on Mill Road in Selinsgrove "seems to be working well" PennDOT's Dave Wise said Friday during the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce's transportation committee meeting.

Excavation north of Grangers Road is completed and work is moving toward the center of the southern portion of the project. The next big work areas will be Park Road and Stetler Avenue beginning in about a month, Wise said.

PennDOT assistant plans engineer Matt Beck outlined anticipated name changes for routes affected by the project on Friday.

Route 15 will run the entire length of the thruway and existing Route 15 will be known as "Business U.S. Route 15." The road commonly known as the Golden Strip running from Shamokin Dam to Selinsgrove will remain Route 11 and Route 147 will follow a new path, Beck said.

Over the next couple of years, crews will build nine bridges and four noise walls in the southern section, according to Beck.

Earlier this year, PennDOT released information regarding the way traffic has been impacted by the opening of the northern section of the thruway.

The new highway opened to traffic in July 2022, and updated traffic counts performed in October 2023 found the CSVT River Bridge is carrying roughly 16,000 vehicles per day, including 3,800 trucks. These latest counts showed more motorists are using the new bridge in October 2023 than in October 2022, when initial counts found roughly 12,000 vehicles per day, including 3,100 trucks, were using the new river bridge.

The southern section of the thruway project is anticipated to be open in 2027 with the entire $938 million project completed by 2028, according to PennDOT.