The Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Beaver Valley Interchange (Exit 13) will be closed on weekdays for three weeks starting Sept. 21, the Turnpike Commission said.
Crews will be reconstructing the road shoulders and resurfacing the ramps leading to and from the highway, according to a news release. Work is scheduled to stop on the weekends, but the work is weather-dependent and may spill into the weekends.
The Turnpike Commission did not respond to questions about the average traffic volume at the interchange, which connects to Route 18 in the Beaver Falls area.
During the closure, motorists looking to exit or enter the turnpike in the area will be directed to use the New Castle Interchange (Exit 10). Signs will be posted to guide motorists to Route 18.
The Turnpike Commission said Route 18 will be reduced to a single lane between Fairlane Boulevard and Wallace Run Road “for a short time” while work takes place at the ramps.
Marie Davis, a front desk worker at the Ramada hotel in Beaver Falls, less than a mile from the exit, said the closure will likely have a “giant impact” on the business. Davis said signs began showing up on Route 18 last week informing motorists of the impending closure, but there’s been no information about how long it would last. Davis said she’s been looking online for that information for days, but was unaware of the three-week closure until being contacted by the Tribune-Review.
Davis said the Ramada will probably not lose business from travelers who have booked in advance for a wedding or other events, “but if they’re just traveling and looking for a place to stop, they’re not going to bother. They’re not going to come back through a detour.”
In that way, she said, it won’t be as devastating, but “it’ll be a decent chunk” of business lost.
