'Bathtub' section of Parkway East starting to flood as rivers rise in Pittsburgh

CBS News Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- As area rivers continue to rise,the 'Bathtub' section of the Parkway East has started to flood.

One lane of traffic began to take on water around 5:30 a.m. on Monday. 

KDKA Photojournalist Brian Smithmyer

On the Monongehela River, The Mon Wharf has already taken on water.

It's expected that the Allegheny River will flood high enough for the 10th Street Bypass to take on water by this afternoon.

The Allegheny River is expected to crest around 22.5' by 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.

Federal funding coming to help fix the 'Bathtub'

Just last week, it was announced that Pittsburgh will be getting more than $142 million in federal infrastructure funding to help fix flooding problems with the 'Bathtub' section of the Parkway. 

The federal grant will help pay for a new wall to keep the water out. It'll also help pay for new safety measures, including variable lanes and speed limits and a system to detect when someone's driving the wrong way, which officials say will help reduce the higher-than-average crashes on the Parkway East.   

The announcement comes after the area secured $132 million to fix another problem: bridges. The bulk of that money will go toward repairing the Fort Duquesne Bridge, then the West End Bridge will get $47 million and $25 million will repair the McKees Rocks Bridge. 

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