A pair of road projects are scheduled to start in the Palmerton area.

The first of those projects will begin next Thursday on Route 248 at the cantilever right adjacent to the Carbon/Northampton County Line, said PennDOT spokesperson Sean Brown.

“This work includes repairs to the underside of the deck along with concrete spall repair to the cantilever wall,” Brown said. “This work will require an eastbound lane restriction in the project area. On the westbound side, crews will be applying a latex overlay over the cantilever.”

Brown noted this area is already lane restricted.

He said the project is scheduled for completion in December.

Just down from there, ramp work will take place starting Oct. 1 on the 248 ramps at the Palmerton exit, Brown said.

“This is for bridge beam repairs,” he said. “For this work, we will have ramp closures and detours of the Eastbound Route 248 ramp to Palmerton and the Eastbound Route 248 on ramp from Palmerton.”

Brown said these will be nighttime detours from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two to three weeks, weather dependent.

In June, Route 248 east and west was reduced to a single lane between Route 873 and Delaware Avenue in Palmerton.

The reduced lane is so that work on the Route 248 cantilever structure just west of the intersection of 248 and 873 in Lower Towamensing Township could get underway.

The average traffic on Route 248 is 27,525 daily in both directions.

The work is part of a $4,727,125 contract to make repairs to 10 structures (one in Carbon County, five in Monroe County and four in Schuylkill County).

The other nine structures are slated to have similar repairs and latex modified concrete overlays, he said.

Other repairs included in the project in Monroe County include Route 209 bridges over Pohopoco Creek and a tributary in Polk Township, and Route 209 bridge over Pohopoco Creek in Chestnuthill Township.

In Schuylkill County, work includes Route 209 bridge over the Schuylkill River in Middleport, Route 443 bridge over the Little Schuylkill River in Walker Township, Route 443 Bridge over the Little Schuylkill River in West Penn Township and Route 61 north ramp to Interstate 81 north Bridge over Altamont Boulevard in Ryan and West Mahanoy townships.

J.D. Eckman Inc. of Atglen is the general contractor.

The contract completion date for repairs to all 10 structures is October 2024.