If it’s summer and there are no major events – Pittsburgh Pirates games, the Three Rivers Arts Festival or the Pittsburgh Marathon – it’s likely that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will schedule traffic disruptions for road work. So here is the major work scheduled this weekend:
- Boulevard of the Allies – The outbound ramp from the boulevard, Route 885, to the outbound Parkway East will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday while crews from Swank Construction Co. do painting, bridge repair work and other construction activity. As part of the $35.4 million project, the Parkway East also will be reduced to one lane in each direction from 9 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday inbound between the Boulevard of the Allies/Liberty Bridge exit and the Second Avenue exit and outbound from the Grant Street on-ramp to the Boulevard of the Allies on-ramp. That work will include steel repairs, pin and hanger replacements, and painting.
- McKnight Road – The road will be limited to one lane in each direction from 7 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Monday between Nelson Run Road and Braunlich Drive. The closure will allow crews from Lindy Paving to repair concrete beams on the bridge over the Evergreen Road-Babcock Boulevard interchange. The same areas also will be restricted the following two weekends. Motorists will have access to businesses in the area. The work is part of a $37 million project to upgrade McKnight from Venture Street in Pittsburgh to Perrymont Road in McCandless.
- Parkway East — Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction between the Penn Hills exit and the bridge over Old William Penn Highway from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday for continuing work on the bridge. That’s part of a $70.1 million project by Swank Construction Co. that will rebuild the highway from Churchill to Monroeville, including work on eight bridges.
- Interstate 79 – Traffic will be limited to one lane in each direction where the highway passes above the interchange with the Parkway West in Robinson from 7 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday. Northbound traffic will use an 11-foot-wide lane that will use the shoulder of the road. Oversized loads wider than 13 feet will be restricted. Golden Triangle Construction Co. Inc. is the primary contractor on the $15 million project to upgrade the highway from the Pittsburgh International Airport interchange to a half-mile north of the Route 60 Moon Run/Crafton interchange.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.