The Tale of Two Parkways: PennDOT offers updates on projects on the Parkway North and East
Call it the tale of two Parkways - one good news, one not so much.
So, let's start with the good, the Parkway North.
Since the crack was discovered in the HOV lane pier, closing the HOV lanes, East Street Valley traffic has been a challenge but it's about it change.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll be open for morning rush hour," said Lori Musto PennDOT District 11's Assistant Executive for Maintenance.
However, according to Musto, not all of the HOV lanes are returning.
"The Bedford exit will still be closed," she said. "You won't be able to get up at Bedford and you won't be able to get off. It will be the North Shore. That will be the limit of the HOV lanes."
By definition, the HOV lane is for more than one person in your car, but Musto said they will be lifting the two-person restriction.
"It will be open to all traffic because we're seeing really an increase in congestion at outbound in the afternoon," she said.
It will be a relief for the rush hours to have that part of the HOV lane back on Tuesday. As far as the Bedford Avenue side, PennDOT still doesn't have an estimate on when they'll be able to reopen that.
Now, let's go to the bad news, the Parkway East.
Work on the bridge over Old William Penn Highway just west of Garden City is ready for the next phase of its reconstruction.
"Friday night, we'll be restricting the Parkway East down to a single lane in each direction," said John Myler, PennDOT District 11's Senior Assistant Construction Manager.
By doing that, they can move everyone over to the inbound bridge, two lanes in each direction, so by Monday morning, demolition of the eastbound bridge will begin.
"That will mean some short closures of Old William Penn underneath to demolish the structure in the coming weeks," Myler said.
Also, drivers should be aware that squeezing four lanes of traffic onto a single bridge designed for three is tight, especially for truck drivers.
"It can feel a little bit more intimidating with that narrowing traffic," Myler said. "There will be barriers on both sides of you, so that also contributes to some of that, that little bit of tight feeling. I call it a bobsled run, we also call them cattle shoots."
Once they get the bridge rebuilt, and that's looking like it's probably going to be July or early August, they'll move all the traffic over onto the new bridge and then they'll rebuild the inbound bridge.
If everything goes as planned, this project should wrap up sometime around the end of construction season, which means around Thanksgiving.
