With structural work finished, the contractor is tying-up the loose ends of construction on two new bridges over the Route 202 Expressway at the Route 29 Interchange in East Whiteland Township, Chester County.

The  two bridges -- one carrying Route 29  and the other carrying Swedesford Road over the expressway at the busy interchange -- were  rebuilt under the second phase of PennDOT's four-phase project to improve more than six miles of Route 202 (Section 300) in Tredyffrin and East Whiteland townships.

Crews will spend July finishing cosmetic and re-grading activities at the interchange and completing post-construction "punch list" items at the two new structures.

The bridges were replaced with wider and longer structures whose abutments are set back beyond the expressway's shoulder to provide room to widen the highway when it is rebuilt under the next two phases of the project. Future improvements also include construction of a new northbound Collector-Distributor (CD) lane at the Route 29 Interchange.

In addition to new bridges at Route 29 and Swedesford Road, a third new bridge was built under Phase 2 to replace the narrow crossing at Cedar Hollow Road, located less than a mile north of Route 29. That bridge was finished in 2009. A fourth bridge, the abandoned railroad overpass just north of Cedar Hollow Road that will become part of the Tredyffrin Township/Chester County trail system, was raised to improve its vertical clearance.

In addition to Phase 2 improvements, new bridges were built over Route 202 at Church Road (2008), Swedesford Road near the Route 401 Interchange (2008) and Mill Lane (2007) under Phase 1.

All of the bridges are located along a six-mile area of expressway stretching from North Valley Road, south of the Chesterbrook Exit in Tredyffrin Township, to approaching the Route 30 Interchange in East Whiteland Township.

Also included in Phase 1 were improvements to two intersections and surface roads near the Route 401 Interchange. The intersections improvements are designed to aid traffic flow now and during upcoming construction on Route 202.

Improvements to the Phoenixville Pike/ Route 401 intersection included widening Route 401 east of the intersection and widening to create turning lanes at each leg of the intersection. Similar improvements have been made to add turn lanes to the nearby intersection of Phoenixville Pike/Planebrook Road and Swedesford Road.

Phase 3, expected to go to construction in 2011, will rebuild and widen 4.2 miles of Route 202 from the six lane section in Tredyffrin Township from the Mill Lane overpass to the six-lane section south of the Chesterbrook Interchange.

Phase 4 will improve an additional 2.1 miles of Route 202 from the end of the Phase 3 work area to the Route 30 Interchange. Phase 4 will go to construction at the completion of Phase 3 work, which is expected to take about three years to finish.