We recently asked Montgomery County for an update on the reopening of Butler Pike, between Germantown Pike and Plymouth/Flourtown roads, in Plymouth Meeting. That portion of Butler Pike has been closed since August of 2018 due to sinkholes.
Initially, the county’s projection for completion of the work was in 2021, however, that was moved up to December 2020. The statement received by MoreThanTheCurve.com states that the hope is still to have the road reopen by the end of 2020.
The full statement is below:
The Butler Pike Sinkhole Remediation work is a huge success despite the unusual working conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent increase in COVID cases. Montgomery County remains committed to the safety of our team and residents while delivering a high quality work product from our Contractor Loftus Construction.
Our first construction priority was the implementation of a Sinkhole Remediation plan developed by our Engineer Gannett Fleming. In accordance with the design and full time engineering oversight, we have been able to grout several voids that existed below grade. These voids caused subsidence and damage to Butler Pike and utilities. We are pleased to report that underground utilities are now safe and we applaud these teams for their cooperation and good work doing upgrades to their infrastructure.
Our second priority was the control and handing of storm water runoff. As you may know, runoff from areas above the site has been significantly increased due to development in the area. Butler Pike was impacted from this runoff. As a result, Montgomery County made significant improvements including construction of a new concrete culvert beneath Butler Pike and improved drainage features upgradient and downgradient of the new culvert. These new infrastructure improvements are complete.
Our latest work efforts include installation of concrete barriers at Norfolk Southern railroad abutments, installing road drainage features, road base construction, and racing to complete asphalt paving and other concrete work. In addition, guiderails will be completed during this final phase.
With winter quickly approaching, we are working daily overtime and Saturdays to complete concrete and road improvements. The placement of concrete and asphalt are temperature dependent. We are however pleased to report that so far the weather has been somewhat cooperative. An exception was last week’s heavy rains that stopped work.
Lastly, Montgomery County is working with the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and our plan is to finish work by the end of the year. This of course is dependent on the weather and any pandemic directives from the Governor that could result in work stoppages.
I trust this helps with an understanding of the project and our goals to open Butler Pike as soon as practical. We thank our residents for their ongoing patience and understanding as we work to complete this project.
More to come.