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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Acting PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian Thursday said thanks to the swift, decisive actions of the administration and the cooperation of Pennsylvanians, &ldquo;the curve is starting to flatten&rdquo; and PennDOT is now in a position to restart important improvements to the state&rsquo;s transportation network.
				PennDOT announced Thursday that in accordance with Gov. Tom Wolf&rsquo;s plan for a phased-in reopening of public and private construction, PennDOT highway and bridge construction projects will resume beginning Friday, May 1.
				&ldquo;Our decision to pause construction was not made lightly, and we understand the importance of these projects to communities across Pennsylvania and to our industry partners,&rdquo; Gramian said.
				On March 17, in response to Gov. Wolf&rsquo;s COVID-19 mitigation guidance, PennDOT paused construction projects statewide, except for emergency needs. Since then, PennDOT has progressively continued critical projects addressing landslide repairs, or critical bridge, tunnel and drainage repairs, and work needed to eliminate roadway restrictions that could impede the ability for the movement of life-sustaining goods and services.
				Gramian said PennDOT road and bridge construction projects will restart with limited exceptions based on project-specific factors, including location and feasibility for social distancing and COVID-19 safety protocols at the job-site.
				Work on all projects will be conducted in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Pennsylvania Department of Health guidance, as well as a project-specific COVID-19 safety plan, which will include protocols for social distancing, use of face coverings, personal and job-site cleaning protocols, management of entries to the job-site, and relevant training.
				Gramian said the safety plan, as well as a general framework for restarting construction projects, was developed by a PennDOT-led multidisciplinary team with representation from the construction industry and the consulting engineering community, as well as the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
				&ldquo;I could not be prouder of the collaboration between PennDOT, the Turnpike Commission, FHWA, and our partners in the industry,&rdquo; Gramian said. &ldquo;While we are all eager to return to work, it was critical to establish safety protocols to minimize COVID-19 exposure for PennDOT and private-sector employees, as well as the communities where they live and work.&rdquo;

PennDOT construction projects to resume Friday