If you’ve looked at this weekend’s beautiful weather forecast and lined up a bunch of home projects, not going anywhere might be a good idea because area road crews have noticed the forecast, too, and scheduled a bunch of projects this weekend. Here’s the list of roadway disruptions that might make yardwork this weekend’s best activity:
- Route 28 — Two ramps around the Highland Park Bridge interchange with Route 28 will be closed this weekend so crews can place an epoxy overlay on the road surface. The off-ramp from northbound Route 28 to the bridge and the ramp from Route 28 to Freeport Road north and south will be closed from 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday. Extensive detours will be posted. The work will protect part of the interchange that finished $47.3 million in improvements late last year to allow a free flow of traffic from Pittsburgh’s North Side to Kittanning and improve the safety getting on and off the bridge.
- Boulevard of the Allies – The outbound lanes of the highway will be closed from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday between the Liberty Bridge and McDevitt Place. The closure will allow crews to paint overhead signs as part of the $35.4 million project to upgrade a series of ramps to and from the Parkway East and Oakland. A series of detours will be posted.
- McKnight Road – Beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, the highway will be reduced to one lane in each direction between Browns Lane in Ross and Perrymont Road in McCandless through mid November. Crews will repair concrete and improve drainage as part of a $27 million project between Pittsburgh’s North Side and McCandless.
- Mon-Fayette Expressway – Coal Valley Road in Jefferson Hills will be closed for six months beginning Monday as part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s construction of the new toll road. The closure will cause a four-mile detour using Routes 885 and 837 in Jefferson Hillas and Clairton. The latest closure, which will last until April, follows the reopening of Camp Hollow Road in West Mifflin earlier this week after a three-month closure. The southern portion of the project will stretch from Route 51 in Jefferson Hills to Route 837 in Duquesne.
- Interstate 79 – Two areas of the highway will be restricted to one lane in each direction this weekend in Pittsburgh’s western suburbs. From 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday in Robinson, restrictions will be in place for northbound traffic between the Route 51/Coraopolis/McKees Rocks interchange and the Neville Island Bridge and southbound traffic between the southern end of the Neville Island Bridge and the on-ramp from Route 51 to I-79 south. Ramps except the northbound ramp from I-79 to Neville Island will remain open. The second work area, from the Interstate 376 Airport/Pittsburgh interchange to just north of the Route 60 Crafton/Moon Run interchange, will occur from 7 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Sunday.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.