Huge Parkway West Closure Planned For Weekend
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – More construction will close down part of the Parkway West this weekend.
Starting Friday night at 9 p.m., the inbound side of the Parkway from the Interstate 79 interchange through the Fort Pitt Tunnel will be closed.
"That's going to occur from I-79 the whole way through the Fort Pitt Tunnel," said Steve Cowan, of PennDOT.
Construction crews will be working to remove concrete and repair parts of the tunnel through the weekend.
The tunnel will reopen Monday morning at 6 a.m.
"There could be some significant delays, and we have seen delays of up to an hour during some of our weekend closures," said Cowan.
PennDOT has also posted the following detour:
Posted inbound (eastbound) detour route (between I-79 and Fort Pitt Bridge)
- Motorists will exit I-376 at the I-79 south (Exit 64A) interchange towards Washington
- Follow I-79 south to the Carnegie (Exit 57) interchange off-ramp
- At the end of the off-ramp, turn left onto West Main Street
- West Main Street becomes Mansfield Boulevard
- Turn right onto Chestnut Street
- Turn left onto East Main Street
- East Main Street becomes Noblestown Road
- Turn right onto Mansfield Avenue
- Turn left onto Greentree Road
- Greentree Road becomes Wabash Street
- Turn right onto South Main Street
- Turn right onto southbound Route 837 (West Carson Street)
- Take the ramp to East I-376/North I-279 onto the Fort Pitt Bridge
- End detour
KDKA's John Shumway has more on how the closure will impact business:
While Friday's Pirates fans won't be affected inbound, Cowan says it will impact fans headed to the game both Saturday and Sunday.
As for the outbound Parkway, there will be some work going on there as well. It will impact fans leaving PNC Park.
"There will be a single-lane restriction at the Banksville interchange," said Cowan.
They're going to be working on the bridge that carries the Parkway over Banksville Road.
They have to close the bridge, and drivers will be forced to exit at Banksville, but at the end of the ramp, you'll weave over to the outbound entrance ramp and right back up and on the Parkway.
"Just from Friday night, an hour after the Pirates game to 5 o'clock Sunday afternoon," said Cowan.
So, Saturday's game crowd will face issues coming and going.
Also facing issues because of the closure are businesses in Carnegie, Green Tree and the West End.
Tom Cheeks' barbershop was busy Friday, but with a building sitting right on Greentree Road, this weekend's prospects are bleak.
"I think we're going to lose a lot of business," said Cheeks. "Traffic is going to be backed up all weekend, customers won't be able to pull in and out of the businesses; it's a nightmare."
"It slows everything down," added Dino Aracri, of the Greentree Inn. "No one wants to battle this traffic. We've been doing this for three years now with this traffic on this road, but you gotta do what you gotta do."
There will be a minimum of three more full weekend closures in one direction or the other between now and the end of the year.
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