Work on the $36 million, three-year project to upgrade Route 412 in parts of Hellertown and Bethlehem is progressing, with Phase 1B about to begin, Borough Manager Cathy Kichline said in a presentation to members of the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber of Commerce at the Hellertown Diner Sept. 27.

Kichline said the new phase is associated with ramp work at the entrances to and exits from the Interstate 78 interchange on Route 412.

She said parking will temporarily be prohibited along Main Street (Route 412) from High Street north to Cherry Lane in Hellertown.

Access to Main Street via intersections in that area is also likely to become more challenging, she said.

"The majority of the work now over the winter and into the spring is the ramp work," Kichline stressed, adding that work related to the ongoing improvements will continue to affect local motorists for the next year-and-a-half.

One of the primary goals of the project--which began in the spring--is to widen Route 412 from the I-78 interchange north to the Sands casino in Bethlehem.

In early September, an employee of contractor HRI Inc. was killed while working on the project in Bethlehem.