Heavy Rainfall Leads To Landslide, Lane Closure On The Parkway East

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Parts of the inbound Parkway East were closed drivers this holiday weekend after a landslide brought down part of a hill in Oakland.

As drizzle fell, signage alerted drivers headed toward the city of a lane closure between the Glenwood exit and the Boulevard of the Allies exit on the parkway.

Traffic did not seem to have too many issues with the closure.

Crews had a chipper to take care of the trees.

According to PennDOT, the weather played a factor.

It says heavy rain and freeze/thaw cycles are often the cause and we saw significant rain before this slide.

Now, the Pittsburgh area is not new to these types of incidents, but they are proving costly in the last few years.

It was in August when the Mayor's Chief of Staff Daniel Gilman tweeted out how the city is spending 12 times as much on landslides now compared to when Mayor Bill Peduto took office.

Gilman said heavy rain has contributed to the frequency of the landslides.

Now, last month the City received 10 million dollars to remediate landslide conditions on Mt. Washington.

The grant from FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security will help building retaining walls and engineered slopes.

PennDOT's geotechnical contractor will be out there before the lane opens.

In:
• I-376
• Parkway East