DUNMORE – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will bid the first section of the Route 2001 Pike County roadway improvement project on Thursday, July 9. Work will begin as early as September 2009 on Section 401, which stretches from the intersection of Route 209 in Bushkill to just north of Little Egypt Road. The project is expected to last two construction seasons.

The entire Route 2001 roadway improvement project consists of three sections and spans over 15 miles of roadway in Lehman and Delaware townships. It encompasses replacement of all six major structures, nine major roadway vertical and horizontal realignments, drainage improvements, plus signing upgrades and pavement markings.

This total reconstruction involves the installation of two 11-foot travel lanes with 8-foot shoulders for the portion of Route 2001 from Route 209 in Bushkill to Route 739 in Delaware Township. The project also includes improvements to Route 739 from the intersection with Route 2001 in Delaware Township to Route 209 in Dingmans Ferry: the paving of two 11-foot travel lanes with 5-foot shoulders.

Work on Section 402 begins just north of Little Egypt Road to Rockledge Road and is expected to begin in 2012 and will last approximately 2 years. Section 405 extends from Rockledge Road and to Route 739 and then to Route 209. Construction is expected to begin in 2015 and will last approximately 2 years.

Two lanes of traffic will be maintained during construction, utilizing temporary roadways and runarounds. Detours will be utilized for a short duration during side road adjustments.

PennDOT Engineering District 4-0 coordinated the Route 2001 project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.  Together with the utility companies, Lehman and Delaware township supervisors and the National Park Service, PennDOT negotiated a two-parcel “land swap" along Route 2001 with the Park Service to mitigate the impact of the new highway design on the existing park property and was also able to finalize the permanent utility relocations. As part of the mitigation, PennDOT also will expand the existing Delaware River Floodplain Wetlands to five acres.

Under the Right of Way plan, there were 73 property acquisitions for Section 401, including 2 total takes; 7 relocations and one large parcel from the National Park Service. All right-of-way acquisition has been completed for section 401 and all vacant properties have been demolished.

The purpose of the Route 2001 project is to improve the overall safety of the roadway, designing it to meet current criteria. A critical component of the project was maintaining the rural setting and minimizing impact to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, wetlands and private properties.