User Rating: / 2
PoorBest 

If you were in that horrendous traffic jam on the Parkway North this morning, you might be interested to know that the likely cause was a missing manhole cover on the Boulevard of the Allies.

In a testament to how fragile our traffic ecosystem is, police had to close a lane, which caused traffic to back up on the Crosstown Boulevard ramp, then the Veterans Bridge, then the parkway, creating a jam that stretched past Camp Horne Road. We're trying to find out a little more, including whether Pittsburgh police think the cover was stolen. Hard to imagine any other explanation, and if it's true, there are several hundred drivers who are probably inching to drop a manhole cover on the perpetrators.

A small milestone in the Route 28 project occurs Wednesday as a PennDOT contractor puts down the final asphalt surface on a section near the 40th Street Bridge. Tonight (Tuesday), northbound traffic will be stopped for up to 15 minutes at a time after 8 p.m. as temporary barrier is removed. One lane of traffic will be maintained during paving of the northbound side from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday; the southbound lanes will be closed after 8 p.m. next Tuesday (the day after Memorial Day) for paving there. Traffic will be detoured across the 40th Street Bridge. Things will return to abnormal by 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Replacement of a digital message sign on the inbound Parkway East at Penn Hills will squeeze traffic to one lane from 9 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday.

Sign-ery

Pittsburgh police will conduct roving DUI patrols and sobriety checkpoints in the South Hills and West End sections of the city this weekend, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. starting Friday.

Inspection of an overhead sign on Business Loop 376 in Moon will cause short-term lane closures in both directions between International Drive and Flaugherty Run Road from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.

Bridge work on Freeport Road in Harmar will continue through June 30, with a continuing restriction to one narrow lane in both directions in the area between the Hulton Bridge and Guys Run Road, according to PennDOT.

A resurfacing project on Route 910 in West Deer, Indiana Township and Richland will cause alternating one-way traffic starting the day after Memorial Day on these two sections: from the northern bridge over the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Indiana Township to Mountain View Road in West Deer, and from Route 8 to Hardt Road in Richland. Work hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through mid-June.

Email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Follow me @pgtraffic on Twitter

The new week begins with advisories about paving and oil-and-chip treatments from your Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Inbound Route 28 traffic will be reduced to one lane between the 40th Street Bridge and East Ohio Street after 8 p.m. daily this week so crews can build retaining walls along that side of the road. The restrictions will be lifted by 5 a.m. daily.

Guide rail repairs will cause restrictions at times on Interstate 79 from the Parkway West junction to the Parkway North junction and on the Parkway North from I-79 to Perrysville from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through Thursday.

Work on traffic cameras will close the left lane on the outbound upper deck of the Fort Duquesne Bridge at the split to Route 65 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday. Also, the bridge's off-ramp to the 10th Street Bypass will be closed, with traffic sent to the ramp to Fort Duquesne Boulevard.

In case you missed it on a sleepy Saturday, dignitaries clipped a ribbon at the new Rochester roundabout last week. It's an amazing transformation of an ugly, congested six-leg intersection into a smooth-flowing and attractive setting. The roundabout opened in July but the dedication was held up so that the landscaping could take root. The PG's coverage and a video are here.

Lane closures will occur from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily this week during repaving on Old Frankstown Road from Center Road to Lindsey Lane in Monroeville and Leechberg Road from Saltsburg Road to Milltown Unity Road in Penn Hills.

Sign-ery

Oil-and-chippery is scheduled for parts of Verona Road, Shannon Road, Hunter Road and Saltsburg Road in the eastern burbs this week. Signs are posted in the affected areas. Slow down so your vehicle doesn't get chipped, too. PennDOT knows you hate oil-and-chip treatment but does it because funding for paving is scarce and roads need to be preserved.

Half of a new bridge under construction on Route 65 where it crosses over Birmingham Avenue in Avalon was to open at about 9:30 a.m. today. Work will begin to replace the other half, keeping traffic hemmed into one 11-foot-wide lane in both directions between Harrison and Elizabeth avenues through mid-October.

That's all for now. More advisories about upcoming road work are in previous posts.

Email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Follow me @pgtraffic on Twitter

 

With the Pirates in Detroit for the weekend it'll be the Pittsburgh Road Crews touching all the bases. Our story on road and T detours is here.

If you're planning some noctural travel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, be aware that traffic will be detoured both ways between Donegal (Exit 91) and Somerset (Exit 110) from 11:45 p.m. Saturday through 4 a.m Sunday for road construction. You'll get detour information as you exit.

The City of Pittsburgh advises that the McArdle Roadway bridge project will be completed by Aug. 1. It has been delayed because of railroad traffic below the span that causes interruptions in construction work.

A ribbon-cutting will be held at noon today for the Rochester Roundabout, an innovative project that has helped untie a chronic traffic knot in the heart of the Beaver County borough. Here's a graphic from the PG archives showing the before and after. The roundabout opened in July.

Early heads-up on some restrictions coming next week:

Work to apply protective sealants on the bridges that carry Route 885 (Mifflin Road) over Streets Run Road and Streets Run in Hays will begin on Monday, bringing single-lane closures at times in both directions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through May 31.

Crews will clean the inbound Liberty Tunnel starting at 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, pinching traffic down to a single lane. The power washers are stowed by 5 a.m. daily.

Email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Follow me @pgtraffic on Twitter

The closure of the Washington Place ramp to Interstate 579-Crosstown Boulevard has caused some traffic snarls and questions by drivers as to why PennDOT doesn't open the Bedford Avenue on-ramp to the Parkway North HOV to all drivers, waiving the two-passenger rule.

Spokesman Jim Struzzi explains: "Anytime we open the HOV to unrestricted traffic all we find is that it transfers the problem to the HOV." The HOV on-ramp and its exits get congested and that defeats the purpose of the HOV, which is to provide a faster trip to car poolers. Also, construction has squeezed a portion of the HOV to one lane, which means even worse congestion if PennDOT throws it open to all comers.

Of course, we know that lots of people cheat and use the HOV without a second passenger, as described in this Post-Gazette story. And every now and then, state police set up shop to nab HOV cheaters.

***

Here are some pretty stunning numbers and a striking image from the Pittsburgh Urban Blog of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research regarding the September service cuts looming for the Port Authority. The center has estimated that 227,000 Allegheny County residents will lose "reasonable access" to transit -- which it defines as being within 2,000 feet of a transit line -- and nearly 89,000 jobs will no longer have "reasonable access."

Here is a map showing the incredible shrinking transit system.

If you drive on the parkways or Route 28 with any regularity, especially during peak times, think of what the addition of extra vehicles will do to an already barely tolerable situation. It's been said before: If the cuts go through, the impact will be felt by riders and nonriders alike.

UPDATE: As of 10:15 a.m. today, the Parkway West was still backed over the top of Green Tree Hill. Think all the pink in the western and southern suburbs is going to make that any better?

***

The weather forecast for the weekend is beautiful and you won't want to spend it sitting in traffic, will you? PennDOT is planning major restrictions in and around Downtown.

The westbound side of the Parkway East will be closed from Grant Street to the Fort Pitt Bridge approach from 10 p.m. Friday to about 5 a.m. Monday. Traffic will be herded into a single lane and pushed off the highway at Grant Street, using Fort Pitt Boulevard to detour toward the Stanwix Street on-ramp or the ramp to the Fort Duquesne Bridge. These ramps also will close during the same time period: the Grant Street on-ramp to the westbound Parkway East; the eastbound Parkway East off-ramp to Grant Street; the Boulevard of the Allies on-ramp to the westbound Parkway East in Uptown; the ramp from the Smithfield Street Bridge to Grant Street: the ramp from Fort Duquesne Boulevard and the 10th Street Bypass to the Fort Pitt Bridge; the ramp from Fort Duquesne Boulevard and the 10th Street Bypass to Commonwealth Place.

The work is part of a season-long $8.7 million project to improve about 26 ramps and road segments connecting Downtown to interstate highways.

And more stuff Downtown: Traffic will be reduced to one lane shifted around a work area on the ramp from the inbound Veterans Bridge to Sixth and Seventh avenues from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.

Southbound traffic on Interstate 79 in Washington County will be detoured at the Laboratory exit from 8 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday as work continues on the new Route 40 overpass. Traffic will use the off- and on-ramps to get around the construction.

Inspection of the bridge that carries Mount Royal Boulevard over railroad tracks between Duncan and Toner avenues in Hampton will cause alternating one-way traffic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

PennDOT has postponed plans to close the bridge that carries Route 51 aka Coraopolis Road over Montour Run between Lewis Avenue and Ewing Street in Moon and Robinson this weekend.

Coming Monday: A $1.9 million project begins on Route 885-Clairton Road in West Mifflin. It will reduce traffic to one lane in both directions from Community College Drive to Lebanon Church Road starting at 7 a.m. and continuing through November. A contractor will resurface the road and do drainage, sign and signal improvements on 1.2 miles of the road.

Also this weekend, traffic on the ramp from the inbound Veterans Bridge to Sixth and Seventh avenues in Downtown Pittsburgh will be restricted to one lane, shifted around a work zone, from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday during expansion dam replacement.

The Port Authority has announced detours on the Light Rail Transit system on Saturday.

On the Blue Line, from the start of service until 1 p.m., Library stops south of Washington Junction will be served by shuttle buses during bridge inspections. The stops will be close to rail stations, and buses will take riders to and from Washington Junction, where they may transfer to Blue Line service originating from South Hills Village.

Riders transferring to the inbound T at Washington Junction during this time must board from the outbound platform for service to Downtown because of power wire replacement happening nearby.

Part of the Red Line in Beechview will be closed for rail replacement from approximately 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. During the work, service to Red Line stops will be provided by a combination of detoured Red Line service, bus shuttles and local rail shuttles.

Red Line service will detour in both directions over the Overbrook line (where Blue Line T service operates), serving its normal stops Downtown, at Station Square and at South Hills Junction, then serving Boggs through Willow stations before continuing on its regular routing to South Hills Village. At Willow, riders can transfer to a local light rail shuttle that will operate in both directions between Overbrook Junction and Potomac.

Bus shuttles will offer inbound and outbound service to riders who use Red Line stops between Station Square and Potomac, with shuttle stops located close to T stops. At Station Square, riders may transfer to buses or the T to continue into Downtown. At Potomac, riders may transfer to the local light rail shuttle for service to stops between Kelton and Overbrook Junction.

***

Quote of the day, from U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., talking about passing a long-term transportation funding bill:

"Given what's available for funding, I don't know that we could go much longer than a year and a half. ...We hope that the next election brings sane people who believe in investing in America, putting people back to work and competing with the rest of the world. If we elect more flat-earthers, we're screwed."

Email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Follow me @pgtraffic on Twitter