A new stretch of Sumneytown Pike, between Old Forty Foot Road in Towamencin Township and Freed Road in Lower Salford Township, opened Monday morning, June 6. PennDot’s Gene Blaum says the new section is fairly short.

“It’s a little less than a mile in length, and it will carry one lane in each direction.  When the construction is fully completed at the approaches and when the job is done it will have two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane, and the one traffic light on the new roadway is at the intersection with Wambold Road.”

Even though it’s small, he says it will make a big difference for motorists.

“It will serve the motoring needs of the region for many, many decades.”

Blaum says the new road has eleven-foot travel lanes and the shoulder varies in width from five feet to eight feet.  A parallel stretch of the existing road, which has a new name of Mainland Road, will be closed for repairs until December 31.  The work is part of the first two contracts for the five-mile-long Sumneytown Pike- Route 309 Connector.  The $23 million project, which includes rebuilding Wambold Road, should be finished late next year.  Funding has not yet been found for the final section, between Allentown Road and Route 309.