PennDOT Announces 2012 Road Construction Plans
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - PennDOT is gearing up for dozens of projects in 2012 that are sure to cause some headaches for drivers.
The largest project will be a major rehab of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.
Evening and weekend restrictions inbound will begin in March with the first full weekend closure being slated for April.
"You need to plan ahead. We will certainly work around the major holidays and the major sporting events and other events in the city that take place, trying to minimize it," Dan Cessna said.
There will be eight full weekend closures inbound this year. Next year, there will be eight for the outbound side, but detours will be in place.
The good news is that drivers won't see any changes during rush hours.
"Weekday commuters to and from work will have the tunnel open for them just like they always do," Cessna said.
Another place you'll see significant construction beginning this spring is the Veterans Bridge. Crews will be laying down a new surface and painting.
"We'll be closing one of the three lanes in each direction to perform that work and that work will take place around the clock including through evening and morning rush hours. So, it's going to be a significant change for motorists," Cessna said.
On Route 28, work will continue, but you'll notice major excavation near the 31st Street Bridge in the coming months.
"It will be a number of phase shifts, where traffic will continue two lanes inbound, one lane outbound, but it will shift from one location to another," Cessna said.
In all, there will be 168 projects in 2012 throughout District 11, which covers Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence Counties.
A total of 77 bridges will be improved or replaced, while 115 miles of state roads will be paved or resurfaced.
Something else out of the ordinary this year was a total of 19 landslides.
"In about the last 25 years, we don't have any record of having this number of landslides. Coming out of winter, typically you might have two major landslides, and maybe six or seven minor ones. This was very significant in a bad way," Cessna said.
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