Weekend places to avoid: Armstrong Tunnel, Parkway East

Another weekend, another series of road restrictions. Here are the areas for motorists to avoid this weekend.

• Armstrong Tunnel – After a series of closures on the Second Avenue end of the tunnel, the inbound tunnel will close this weekend and two others while crews clean the entrance and exit on the Forbes Avenue end of the tunnel. The tunnel will be closed from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Monday. The outbound tunnel already is closed for continuing rehabilitation work. The tunnel also will be closed for the same hours on the weekends of Sept. 21 and Oct. 19 as part of the $13.1 million project by Allegheny County to upgrade the tunnel with new, brighter side walls, lights and a new electrical system. Mosites Construction Co. is the general contractor for the project, which is expected to be finished next spring.
• Parkway East – The highway will be reduced to one lane each way again this weekend, but in a slightly different area from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. This time, the restrictions will be from the Business Route 22 exit in Wilkins to the bridge over Sunset Drive as crews reconstruct concrete approach slabs. When the roadway reopens on Monday, inbound lanes will be shifted so motorists are using the two inner lanes through the work zone between Monroeville and Churchill. Outbound lanes will not be changed. The work is part of a 4.5-mile, $70.1 project by Swank Construction Co. that will last until fall 2026.
• Babcock Boulevard, McCandless – The roadway will close between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Monday between Pearce Mill Road and Irwin Road. That will allow crews from A. Folino Construction to replace a cross pipe and do full-depth pavement repairs. The posted detour will have motorists use Ingomar Road, Route 19 and Route 910.
• Interstate 79 – Northbound traffic will be reduced to one lane from 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday in Robinson and Kennedy townships between the Interstate 376 Airport/Pittsburgh exit and the Route 60 Crafton/Moon Run interchange. Crews for Golden Triangle Construction Co. Inc. will do concrete patching work as part of a $15 million project that will be finished next spring. Also, traffic will be reduced to one lane southbound on the highway during the same hours from just south of the Route 51/Neville Island off-ramp for about a half-mile for bridge deck work. That’s part of a different, $44 million project that will repair a series of bridges and ramps as well as reconstruct the pavement around the I-79/Route 51 interchange near Neville Island.