Busy Exeter Township intersection to be closed

The Gibraltar Road bridge over Antietam Creek in Exeter Township at the intersection with Shelbourne Road. (Michelle Lynch – Reading Eagle)

The intersection of Shelbourne and Gibraltar roads in Exeter Township will be closed starting Monday and continuing through much of the summer while crews replace a bridge and improve the intersection, PennDOT officials said.

Shelbourne Road will be officially closed between St. Lawrence and Perkiomen avenues. Local traffic will be permitted, but no vehicles will be allowed to cross the intersection.

The Gibraltar Road bridge near Shelbourne Road will be closed to all traffic starting Monday. It has been open in one direction since construction began in March. Only traffic headed from Route 422 to Shelbourne Road can use the bridge. Traffic that would typically reach the bridge from Shelbourne Road is being detoured.

The closures are expected to be in place until the end of August.

The posted detour will route traffic on St. Lawrence Avenue and Perkiomen Avenue.

The work is part of a $2.7 million project to widen the intersection to add an eastbound to northbound left-turn lane. A traffic signal is being added, and the bridge carrying Gibraltar Road over Antietam Creek is being replaced.

The project is designed to improve the intersection and the bridge to reduce peak-hour congestion, according to PennDOT. At present the bridge consists of two lanes and leads to an intersection with a four-way stop sign and one lane in each direction. Traffic often backs up on Gibraltar and Shelbourne roads during the morning and evening rush hours, and the bridge is used by bus drivers and other motorists as a route to the Exeter School District buildings along nearby Dunham Drive.

The work is expected to be fully complete by September 2024.

H&K Group Inc., Skippack, is the general contractor.