PennDOT, Turnpike Suspends Road Work For Labor Day Weekend
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The unofficial end of the summer is drawing near. The Labor Day weekend will also bring a break to drivers who are sick of road work, but not everyone wanted it that way.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike knows you are coming, and a few of your neighbors, too.
"We expect about 2.2 million people to use the Turnpike," said Tom Fox, the Turnpike spokesperson.
And experience has shown that folks are stretching the holiday more and more. So, to the Turnpike, the holiday weekend starts Thursday at 3 p.m. when they pull all construction workers off the road.
"There will no active construction going on on the Turnpike," says Fox.
That means from Ohio to New Jersey.
"Two lanes of traffic will be open in each direction from end to end," says Fox.
For PennDOT, we're talking about a prime weekend of good weather and no Pirates or Steelers to conflict with Parkway West work. While tempting, PennDOT says nope, it's not happening.
"We're not doing any work this Labor Day holiday," PennDOT's Steve Cowan says.
Like the Turnpike, the reason for PennDOT is in the numbers.
"There will be so many people traveling this holiday, it's just not feasible to be out there restricting traffic when so many folks are out there," says Cowan.
Turnpike toll plaza history paints a clear picture of when not to be driving if you want to avoid the bulk of the traffic. The worst of it will come on Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
So, if you're traveling Friday," Fox says, "Do so in the morning, or certainly, maybe after maybe 9 o'clock, that's been our experience."
And on Monday, it's a bit tougher to avoid as the prime hours run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fox says it's the toll plazas that become a bottleneck.
"Getting off probably more so than getting on," Fox says.
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