South Hills light rail work begins, will last through Aug. 31

The summer of discontent begins Thursday for riders of Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light rail system to the South Hills.

Beginning at 8 p.m., the agency will begin replacing inbound rail around Willow Station, the first of four projects that will last through August and cause a series of transit interruptions.

During the initial work, rail cars going each direction will use the same single lane of the Red Line tracks between the St. Anne and Overbrook Junction stations and the same single lane of the Blue Line and Silver Line tracks between St. Anne and Willow through May 31. All riders should use the outbound platforms at St. Anne, Willow and Overbrook.

The project will shift to replace the outbound tracks in the same area from May 31 to June 16, and riders should use the inbound platform at all stations.

Riders on all rail routes can expect delays of up to 40 minutes while trains alternate using the single lane of track in the work area.

During the monthlong project, from May 16 to June 16, Red Line trains will only run between Downtown Pittsburgh and Overbrook Junction from 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays but at all other times will run from Downtown to South Hills Village. Riders traveling south of Overbrook during rush hours should board Blue Line trains.

While those suburban projects are going on, crews will continue working on the rail around Wood Street Station, Downtown. Inbound light rail trains will stop at Penn Station, which is normally closed, and riders can take a shuttle bus to Gateway Station and reboard the subway to the North Side. Riders from the North Side will reverse the process and take a shuttle bus from Gateway to Penn to reboard the subway through May 31.

The last project will be the most disruptive when the Red Line will be completely closed between Overbrook and South Hills Junction from June 16 to Aug. 31 for a variety of track work. The agency will operate rail shuttles and create two temporary bus routes during that work.

The rail work is part of a five-year $150 million series of light rail upgrades. Other projects will include a full rehabilitation of the Panhandle Bridge that crosses the Monongahela River between Station Square and Downtown Pittsburgh; track work inside the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel and Mount Lebanon Transit Tunnel; and upgrades to stations at Station Square, Dormont Junction and Belasco.