More Restrictions This Weekend As PennDOT Continues Parkway East, North Construction
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Major restrictions will be in place this weekend on the Parkway North and East as construction projects continue into the fall season.
The brand new asphalt rolling out of the city towards Edgewood has been rough on weekend traffic, and the section just east of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel is in need of another lane to be covered.
However, PennDOT District 11 spokesman Steve Cowan says, "Once we're finished this weekend, 376 will be paved out."
But that does not mean the work is done by any means.
Outbound, the Bates Street entrance ramp will be closed for paving and expansion dam replacement on the bridge. Also, Cowan says the mainline "they are going to neck that down to a single lane from there, all the way out to the Edgewood-Swissvale area."
Meanwhile, inbound you'll come to a stop sign at the bottom of the Squirrel Hill entrance ramp, and from there to Bates.
"Mainline traffic is going to have two lanes inbound all weekend," Cowan said.
The primary inbound work is on the expansion dams, and this work will be going on for the next three weekends.
"You're going to see these real short work zones where it will be done to a single lane and it's going to open up once you are across the bridge," Cowan said. "So, it may not be a long work zone, but it will be impactful."
And they won't get all that work done this fall, it will extend into 2019.
The paving ends when they get those lanes both paved to Edgewood, but the work is going to continue.
Meanwhile, over on the Parkway North, it's been quite the summer of reconstruction on Pittsburgh's biggest road project.
"We're actually paved out on the mainline," Cowan said. "Right now, they are doing sawing and sealing operations."
Based on all the white lines crisscrossing the brand new asphalt, there's a lot of that work to do.
The cut and seal process means crews will literally cut a little trench and fill it with rubberized material. That allows for the asphalt to expand and contract, and it cuts down on the amount of cracking they get.
"That's going to continue all this weekend, both southbound and northbound," Cowan said.
So, here's what it means to you if the Parkway North is in your weekend plans.
Starting with southbound towards the city overnight and Saturday night, there will only be one lane open.
"Southbound between Camp Horne and Perrysville Avenue," Cowan says.
And northbound, starting Saturday morning until Sunday morning, as you climb the East Street valley coming from the North Shore, you are going to be merged into a single lane.
Depending on how the work goes, Cowan says, "It could be from the Suffolk Street Bridge, all the way out to Camp Horne Road. Motorists should definitely give themselves extra time or consider an alternative route."
These restrictions will continue for four more weekends, or into the middle of November.
After that, Cowan says, "They'll be doing bridge work and guide rail installation. So you're going to see short-term lane restrictions throughout the winter."
Next summer, they'll finish up the rebuild on the HOV lanes, and the Parkway North project will be finished.