PennDOT Crews Working To Get Parkway West Lights Back On
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Timid drivers hugging the center line, the anxious driver who wants to get home so close to your back bumper you can't see the headlights, and the driver in front of you has chosen now to send that text.
Driving through the Fort Pitt Tunnel is an adventure on the best of days.
Add to that hair-raising drive, emerging to an abyss of darkness on the outbound Parkway, and it's enough to fray even the strongest nerves.
The Parkway West darkness started getting the attention of the masses when the time changed Sunday and suddenly a large portion of the afternoon rush hour drivers were going home after sunset.
PennDOT District 11 Executive Dan Cessna says the issue with the lights started a month ago.
"We're working on it," he says. "It's a number of problems, some of it related to the age of the system, and some of it related to construction damage, which we are working on at this time."
With the increase in drivers in the dark due to the time change, two crews were assigned to get the lights back on pronto.
"We hope to have the Route 51 and Banksville area on in the next day or so," Cessna says. "It is still going to be a bit longer for the mainline and Green Tree."
As of the Wednesday evening rush hour, the crews had been able to restore at least some light all the way from the tunnel to Green Tree. But some light standards which hold six high-powered lights each are only partially lighted for now.
While we're on the topic of the Parkway West, Cessna says they're about ready for the final concrete pours.
"We are going to do the bridge decks in Carnegie in the next week or so to finish the bridges," he says. "That work will continue through the month of November."
As for restoring the lanes and opening the Carnegie ramps Cessna says, "Right now, we're looking really close at our schedule for an opening in early December."
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