The Monongahela Incline will be closed Wednesday through Friday, but this is a scheduled closure for routine maintenance of the funicular that carries riders between Grandview Avenue on Mount Washington and Station Square on the South Side.
The closure will allow crews to replace a safety cable that typically lasts six to eight years. During the closure, Pittsburgh Regional Transit recommends riders use the regularly scheduled 40-Mount Washington bus or take shuttle buses that will operate between the incline and East Carson Street at Station Square.
This project has nothing to do with problems that led to more than a half dozen closures since the agency completed an $8.1 million renovation project in March 2023. After work to refurbish the incline’s mechanical system and restore its look to when it opened in 1870, it had problems related to condensation in a computer area, doors that slipped out of place, and a brake resistor and the motor controller that failed.
The incline is the oldest continually running funicular system in the country.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.