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PLAINS TWP. &mdash; There is a chance the off ramp to River Street in Plains Township could reopen by late summer or early fall of this year.
				That answer came Wednesday from John Farrell, project manager, who is Transportation Construction Manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation&rsquo;s engineering office in Dunmore.
				Farrell said the North Cross-Valley bridge and ramp project has a contract completion date of July 27, 2021.
				&ldquo;The project is ahead of schedule and could be completed late fall 2020,&rdquo; Farrell said. &ldquo;But due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing time off, it might not be completed until spring 2021.&rdquo;
				The project cost exceeds $11 million.
				The heavily used off-ramp on the southbound lane of the North Cross Valley Expressway closed in early 2019. Construction crews are removing and replacing the bridge deck and walls and will also paint beams and girders, according to PennDOT.
				A detour has been in place that takes motorists to Exit 2 (Wilkes-Barre/Center City) to Wilkes-Barre Boulevard, where temporary traffic signals have been installed. The detour directs motorists to access River Street in Plains Township by turning onto Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and then get back on the North Cross Valley Expressway back to Plains Township.
				A special provision was made for emergency vehicles that allows an exit via a newly constructed off-ramp and that utilizes the shoulder of the on-ramp from River Street to Route 309. Emergency responders travel against the normal flow of traffic, but concrete barriers separate the lanes.
				At the beginning of the project, Wilkes-Barre General Hospital officials and emergency responders said they were worried about how the project would limit hospital access, especially given the ramp closure coinciding with an unrelated sewer project that was beginning on River Street south of the hospital at the same time.
				The North Cross Valley Expressway on-ramp at River Street in Plains Township was repaired earlier.
				The on-ramp reopening marked the return of easier travel for those working on the Wilkes-Barre side of the river who live on the West Side or in the Back Mountain.

PennDOT: River Street off ramp could reopen by end of the year