The Route 145/MacArthur Road safety construction project is now in the home stretch.

The two-year project, which extends from Eberhart Road north past the Whitehall Township Municipal Building campus to Center Street, is expected to be completed before October, as originally projected.

Whether the entire project is completed by the time school resumes later this month is yet to be determined.

Paving will take place on the busy stretch of roadway within the next week to two weeks, according to Whitehall Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr., who recently provided a briefing on the progress of PennDOT and HRI Construction Contractors.

Most of the construction work is already completed. Motorists on the multilane road are driving on sections of the road that are finished.

The PennDOT project resulted from the high number of vehicle accidents on the two-mile stretch of road.

Much of the ongoing work is taking place on the west side of Route 145/MacArthur Road, next to the vacant lands donated earlier to Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Sidewalks are being installed in front of Whitehall Family Diner and other locations on the west side of the highway. This may be puzzling to some motorists, but Hozza said the sidewalks are being installed for the safety of the public because students are often seen walking across the highway.

Four lanes now approach Mechanicsville Road with a right turning lane taking traffic onto Mechanicsville Road and the Whitehall-Coplay School District campus. A left turn lane allows traffic to turn by U-Haul and Wawa, which then connects further east with Seventh Street and two lanes southbound.

The temporary traffic signal at Lehigh Street will be replaced with a permanent traffic light signal. Light fixtures need to be erected and energized.

The existing road was lowered in places, a bridge was removed and the passage from Lehigh Street to the highway changed extensively for added safety.