It’s easy to see the stark contrast between the two sides of the Armstrong Tunnel, which connects Second Avenue and Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood.
The outbound side of the 1,298-foot tunnel is what many expect a tunnel to be, dingy and a bit frightening with large chunks of ceramic tiles missing on the sides and lights so old that Jason Molinero, Allegheny County’s deputy public works director, called them “almost orange” during a tour on Friday.
The refurbished inbound side, which has been closed for the past year, is almost brilliantly bright with new lights and white, stainless-steel panels on the sides and a completely new electrical system with closed-circuit cameras and a fiber-optic heat detection system to detect problems such as crashes or fires. Another key safety feature is adding a pedestrian island between the tunnels at the Forbes Avenue end, reducing the distance on the street for walkers from 145 feet to 90 feet.
County officials showed off those improvements as the first half of the $13.1 million project is nearly complete. The inbound tunnel is scheduled to reopen April 13, when general contractor Mosites Construction Co. will close the outbound tunnel for improvements.
The rehab of the inbound portal was pretty straightforward construction that included installing the new side panels, lights and other equipment. But Molinero said the outbound side has some additional work because crews will have to replace the concrete surface when they widen the path for pedestrians from 3 feet, 9 inches to 6 feet, 3 inches to allow walkers to pass each other comfortably.
The second half of the project also will include blasting the ornate stone at the entrances to the tunnel to restore its original appearance.
The project requires workers to use equipment similar to the machines they use to mill off asphalt road surfaces to remove the ceramic tiles on the sides of the tunnel. Many of those tiles were damaged over the years by water that leaked behind the tiles and caused the adhesive to fail.
Crews cleaned the drains on the inbound side of the tunnel and replaced the ceramic tiles with 4-foot-by-8-foot stainless steel panels. The panels were produced in Belgium, treated for fire resistance in London, then shipped back to Belgium before being put on a ship to the U.S.
When the project is finished, the 140 lights that had been in the tunnel will be replaced with 370 lights. Molinero said the brightness of those lights will adjust according to outside conditions so motorists won’t face the visual shock from sunshine into a dark tunnel.
Officials lauded the improvements. County Executive Sara Innamorato said if bridges are the show horses of infrastructure, then “tunnels are the work horses.”
“We need bridges and tunnels and retaining walls to get where we want to go,” she said.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey agreed.
“Without our infrastructure, we can’t move this city,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, called such projects “critical to our quality of life” and praised the Biden Administration for committing more than $1 trillion to infrastructure improvements across the country.
Motorists also will find a new traffic pattern inside the tunnel. Instead of two traffic lanes 10 feet wide, the tunnel has one lane 12 feet wide with shoulders 2 to 3 feet wide. At the exits, the road widens to allow a left turn lane and a straight/right-turn lane.
The tunnel, which opened in 1927, is named after former Allegheny County Commissioner and Pittsburgh Mayor Joseph G. Armstrong and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.