Route 28 northbound expected to open to two lanes of traffic after 3 years of construction
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- After three years of construction, Route 28 northbound is set to open to two lanes of traffic near the Highland Park Bridge interchange.
PennDOT planned to open the newly constructed northbound lane on mainline Route 28 at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday, getting rid of the bottleneck and allowing two lanes of traffic to flow freely from Pittsburgh to Kittanning.
PennDOT began the $47 million project in late 2020 to help mitigate congestion by establishing two lanes in both directions on Route 28.
"It is very exciting to reach this milestone of Route 28 having two lanes of unrestricted free flow traffic after generations of transportation professionals have worked collectively on this effort for decades," said District Executive Jason Zang in a news release. "We thank the men and women who worked day and night, in adverse weather conditions, next to speeding traffic to deliver this final major improvement on Route 28."
Five major projects totaling $100 million from 2009 to 2014 addressed bottlenecks at the 31st and 40th Street bridges, but those improvements pushed the bottleneck to the Highland Park Bridge interchange.
Work will continue on southbound Route 28, but that new lane is expected to open to traffic next week, weather permitting. Crews will install guide rails, perform sawing and sealing operations and paint lines.
Northbound mainline was supposed to open to two lanes in mid-October, but the decision was made to wait for both sides to be completed.
The project also included building improved acceleration and deceleration ramps.
