Nearly a year later there is still only one eastbound lane open on a portion Route 56.  Officials from PennDOT say no additional work is expected to be completed on the roadway. 

Last June a rock slide closed Route 56 indefinitely as crews worked to clean up the debris.

Officials told us that heavy rain caused the slide, but they were able to reopen both westbound lanes and one of the eastbound lanes for Johnstown’s biggest event of the year, Thunder in the Valley.

Work was once again delayed though due to Johnstown’s AAABA tournament that is held in August.

Officials at the time said they did not want to inconvenience the thousands of people that would be in the city during either event with a detour that took folks along Washington and Johns streets.

Last October the road was once again shut down as crews took several days to blast the hillside.  The construction project was expected to last four weeks, but crews reopened the two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane after just two weeks.

As construction season is just around the corner, we took our question to PennDOT.  Will there be any more work done to reopen this road fully?  The major artery allows folks to bypass the city and although there are not any big traffic concerns we asked why the project was never completed?

PennDOT officials tell us this is permanent.  The barrier on the eastbound lane will act as a safety precaution to prevent damage if there are any future rock slides.  They say the road is not a safety concern, this is just a precautionary measure.