There is lots of weekend road and transit work to be aware of this weekend. Here are the areas to avoid if you can.
- Route 51 — The highway will be closed in both directions in Jefferson Hills this weekend between Worthington Avenue and Peters Creek Road. Crews are expected to work from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday to install overhead beams for the bridge that will carry the new Mon-Fayette Expressway above Route 51. Traffic detours will be posted. This is the first of two weekends when beams for the bridge will be set in place, and the work is weather dependent. The second date is scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 6. The work is part of the long-expected extension of the expressway from Jefferson Hills to Route 837 in Duquesne by the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
- Light rail system — Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s rescheduled work on a series of stations on the Blue Line begins at 8 p.m. Friday at Boggs Station. The station will be closed until the start of service on Monday while crews apply an epoxy coating to seal the concrete platform so that water can’t get in and cause cracks. Riders should use stations at Bon Air or South Hills Junction instead. The work was postponed last month because of wet weather. The schedule calls for similar closures at Denise Station the weekend of Sept. 6; Memorial Hall Station the weekend of Sept. 13; and Overbrook Junction beginning on Thursday, Sept. 26. Additional station work is expected in October and possibly November.
- Interstate 79 — Northbound traffic will be limited to one lane from 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday and from 7 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. The work area will be from the I-376 Airport/Pittsburgh exit to the Route 60 Crafton/Moon Run exit, and the closed lane will be the local lane, which means traffic will not be able to exit or enter at the Route 51/Coraopolis/McKees Rocks interchange. During the restrictions, crews will be doing concrete patching work. Golden Triangle Construction has the contract for the $15 million project for rehabilitation work from the airport exit to ½ mile north of the Route 60 interchange that should be finished late spring next year.
- McKnight Road — The highway will be restricted to one lane in each direction from 4 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday between Nelson Run Road and Braunlich Road. During that time, crews will make bridge repairs on the McKnight Road bridge over Babcock Boulevard. The work is part of the $27 million project to upgrade the highway between Venture Street on Pittsburgh’s North Side and Perrymont Road in McCandless. Lindy Paving Inc. is expected to finish the project next spring.
- Parkway East — Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction from the Penn Hills interchange to the bridge over Old William Penn Highway from 9 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. Swank Construction Co. will reconstruct concrete slabs on the approach to the bridge, put a latex sealer on the surface and conduct other concrete work. The $70.1 million project will improve 4.5 miles of the highway between Churchill and Route 48 in Monroeville.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.