Pittsburgh City Officials Say 10th Street Between Liberty And Penn Avenue Will Be Closed Between 6-8 Weeks
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh City officials along with Port Authority of Allegheny County provided an update on the ongoing work and investigation after a Port Authority bus was lifted out of the sinkhole on 10th Street downtown.
According to city officials, 10th Street between Liberty and Penn Avenues may be shut down to traffic for as long as six to eight weeks.
That particular area is undermined and engineers have to assess the stability and safety of the street surface there.
The company, Allegheny Crane Rental, hoisted the bus out of the sinkhole shortly after 9:30 p.m. Monday.
Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich likened the operation to a well-planned "surgical procedure."
The bus was actually able to be driven, but Port Authority still had it towed from the scene.
Adam Brandolph told KDKA's Kym Gable surveillance cameras on the bus captured the moment of impact and the subsequent rescue and escape of the driver and female passenger.
"We were able to review the surveillance footage from inside the bus which, you could imagine, was pretty harrowing especially for the operator and for the passenger," he said.
Brandolph said he commends the witnesses in that area who helped the pair off the bus.
"We should just count on the road being closed for the next six to eight weeks," said Karina Ricks, Pittsburgh's director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure. "We'll work with the utilities to restore it, get everything back in place, and then restore the street. We don't anticipate any long-term closures on Penn at this time."
Hissrich added that initial assessments don't indicate any major damage to the water or power lines that run under 10th Street.
There was still some concern about fiberoptics and whether any of those lines were compromised.
Hissrich said that could cause "major problems" with telecommunications both in the City of Pittsburgh and in other parts of Western Pennsylvania.