'Batman' Filming To Impact City Traffic
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Holy Batjam!
In the heart of Pittsburgh, the battles of The Dark Knight and his nemesis Bane will soon roll through the winterized streets and send mere mortals scurrying for cover.
In his ever so polite British brogue, Dark Knight Director Christopher Nolan told the unsuspecting people of our city last Thursday that he wanted to, "Apologize in advance for any disruption that we might cause. We hope to minimize it as much as possible."
Well, get ready to fully understand why there was a premature apology.
Starting on Wednesday, Fifth Avenue traffic in Oakland will be detoured around the Mellon Institute for filming both Wednesday and Thursday.
Look for the bewildered detourees on Craig Street, Forbes Avenue, and Bellefield Avenue to get around the closure. If you happen through that area, don't be surprised by the occasional explosion, or perhaps automatic weapons fire echoing through the normally sedated academic setting.
The weekend scenes at Heinz Field should not cause significant issues for the driving public.
However, watch out on Tuesday.
The Dark Knight will be rumbling his testosterone charged Batmobile into the golden triangle without the least fear of the dreaded meter maids.
He's got people who carry his quarters.
While the man in the rubber batsuit - actor Christian Bale - might have told us, "We will try to stay out of your hair as much as possible," city permits would indicate otherwise.
Filming will first take over Smithfield Street around the clock from Kaufman's Clock to Gimble's Clock beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9 and making it a snowy scene until 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 11. Port Authority buses will be detoured.
Then, under the current schedule crews will turn their snow-making craft to Cherry Way. Fourth and Forbes Avenues will be closed from Smithfield Street to Grant Street.
They're going to dig a big hole in Cherry Way in front of Primanti's and run the batmobile into the ground, or out of the ground.
Currently, this is all supposed to happen between 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11 and 6 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13. However, there's word on the batphone that could be delayed as much as a week.
Next weekend, they're going to shoot on Smithfield Street from the Boulevard of the Allies all the way to 6th Avenue. That will be going on from Friday night to Monday morning.
Here's the big one:
Wednesday and Thursday Aug. 17 and 18, Batman and Bane are going to be chasing each other all over the place.
Smithfield Street will once again close from the Boulevard of the Allies to Forbes Avenue, and be joined by Wood Street from the Boulevard to Forbes, not to mention the cross streets.
Remember Nolan's words when he said, "I'm very confident that, Pittsburgh, we can leave you all liking us certainly the way we left the people of Chicago liking us. Certainly, that's what we're aiming to do."
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