2015 Cable Barrier Work to Restrict Night Traffic on I-81, Route 283

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The state Department of Transportation will begin work this week on a project to add high-tension cable barriers in the medians of Interstate 81 in Cumberland and Franklin counties and Route 283 in Dauphin and Lancaster counties.

The cable barriers will be added to I-81 in the Shippensburg area and from the Maryland line to the welcome center in Antrim Township, Franklin County, according to a PennDOT news release.

On Route 283, the barriers will be installed in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County and Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County.

The barriers can prevent cars and trucks from crossing the median and colliding with oncoming traffic.

“We’ve taken the most likely locations and it also has to do with where the terrain is suitable,” PennDOT spokesman Greg Penny said. “If we have flat terrain, then the cable median barrier works there.”

Penny said the work will be done day and night, but traffic lane restrictions are permitted only during overnight hours. During the daytime, the highway shoulder may be closed.

Work to install concrete foundations for the steel posts will begin in the Shippensburg area, then proceed to Franklin County before moving on to Route 283 in Dauphin and Lancaster counties. The contractor will then return to install the steel posts, and then later to attach the cable, Penny said.

The work is scheduled to be finished by early-to-mid June.

Penny said PennDOT intends to install more cable median barrier in the future along the I-81 and Route 283 corridors as state and federal funds become available and at locations where the terrain is suitable.

(H/T: ABC:27.COM)