Section 103 Work to Improve U.S. 322 Expanding This Winter
Construction started in October 2024 on PennDOT’s Section 103 project to reconstruct and improve 1.4 miles of U.S. 322 (Conchester Highway) from Chelsea Parkway/Bethel Avenue to just east of Route 452 (Market Street) in Upper Chichester Township, Delaware County.
Work began with site clearing, roadway repairs, utility coordination, and other early-stage activities in the two-lane stretch east of Chelsea Parkway/Bethel Avenue. Excavation and placement of temporary paving across the project area, including at the Route 452 Interchange along Market Street and Bethel Avenue, continued through the end of 2024. Roadway widening and temporary paving will prepare the roads and ramps for long-term traffic patterns that will be in place during construction.
Over the coming winter as conditions permit, crews will expand excavation, continue utility relocations, begin culvert construction, and start work on retaining walls.
Bethel Avenue at the intersection of Cherry Tree Road and U.S. 322 (Conchester Highway) will be detoured to allow for roadway construction in late winter.
A section of the four-lane stretch of westbound U.S. 322 (Conchester Highway) will be reduced to one lane this winter, and access to Route 452 (Market Street) will remain open to westbound traffic.
Work on Market Street at the Route 452 (Market Street) Interchange will include excavation and drainage installation to accommodate upcoming construction of turn lanes on Market Street and widening on Bethel Avenue to allow construction of new ramps.
Section 103 will reconstruct and widen the two-lane section of U.S. 322 (Conchester Highway) to four travel lanes, add turn lanes, realign on and off-ramps, realign the Cherry Tree/Bethel Avenue intersection, and upgrade traffic signals along the project corridor.
There will be periodic lane closures for the duration of the project for construction activities. PennDOT will continue to maintain at least one lane of traffic in each direction except during occasional, flagger-controlled restrictions at various times and locations. Access will be maintained to all residences and businesses within the work area during construction.
The $99.4 million Section 103 project is the second of four construction contracts under PennDOT’s U.S. 322 (Conchester Highway) Improvement Program to improve travel and safety on a 6.7-mile section of U.S. 322 (Conchester Highway) in Concord, Bethel, and Upper Chichester townships.
R.E. Pierson Construction Co. Inc., of Pilesgrove, N.J., is the general contractor on this project, which is financed with 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent state funds.
Section 101 widening and intersection improvements were completed in 2020 between U.S. 1 (Baltimore Pike) and Clayton Park Drive.
Section CSX, which will replace the U.S. 322 bridge over the CSX Railroad and improve the adjacent Bethel Road Interchange, is scheduled to be advertised for construction later this year.
Final engineering design is advancing for Section 102, the widening and reconstruction from Clayton Park Drive to Chelsea Parkway/Bethel Avenue. Section 102 construction will wrap up PennDOT’s improvements to U.S. 322 (Conchester Highway) between U.S. 1 (Baltimore Pike) and the CSX bridge and Bethel Road.