Riders who use Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light rail system will face a series of challenges next year due to upcoming construction projects.
Those projects include two months of work on the rails in the tunnel under Downtown Pittsburgh, followed by an eight-month closure of the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel. Both projects will disrupt trips for light rail users, and the transit tunnel project also will reroute 10 bus routes.
Amy Silbermann, the agency’s chief development officer, outlined the work for the board’s Planning and Stakeholder Relations Committee last week. It is part of a series of light rail improvement projects through 2028 that are expected to cost $150 million.
The first project, which will begin Jan. 2, is the resumption of work to repair the concrete beams in the Downtown Pittsburgh tunnel the light rail system uses. Those beams, known as plinth, hold the rails the trains ride on.
The agency has been working on weekends and overnight to upgrade the plinth for more than two years. Now, it will bite the bullet and close the tunnel completely for separate phases of work in January and February.
In January, inbound rail service will end at the First Avenue Station for work between there and Steel Plaza on Grant Street. A shuttle bus will take riders from First Avenue to Steel Plaza, where a temporary Subway Local will take passengers through Downtown to the North Side.
The system will operate the same from the North Side through Downtown.
In early February, the work will shift to the area between Steel Plaza and Gateway Plaza on Stanwix Street. As a result, inbound trains will end service at Penn Station on Grant Street, which normally is closed.
From there, riders can take a shuttle bus to the Wood Street and Gateway stations. A temporary Subway Local will continue from Gateway to the North Side.
Again, the system will operate in reverse for outbound riders.
The next and more disruptive project will begin Feb. 23, when the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel will close to buses and light rail cars for eight months. Work on the $26 million project will include tracks, the overhead power wire for trains, drainage and the tunnel liner.
Silbermann said the agency decided on the extended closure “to get everything done at one time” rather than doing separate projects that would require several closures. It will try to get the plinth project done as soon as possible so there isn’t much overlap between the two projects.
The tunnel closure will lead to route changes for light rail trains and buses.
On the light rail system, trains will be shifted to use the old Blue Line through Allentown, which normally is closed. That will add 7 to 8 minutes to each trip and include an additional stop at Allen Street.
That stop will not be ADA accessible for light rail riders, but the 43 Bailey and 48 Arlington buses that use it will be ADA compliant.
Instead of stopping at Station Square, the trains will go directly across the Panhandle Bridge. A temporary local shuttle will be used to take riders between Station Square and the First Avenue Station.
The Silver Line will operate on weekdays between Library and Washington Junction, but it will run to Downtown Pittsburgh on weekends. Silbermann said that is because the agency is concerned about the electrical power draw during rush hour on the Arlington portion of the system.
Additionally, almost all of the 10 bus routes that use the transit tunnel will be rerouted inbound through Allentown on the same path as the trains, then go to East Carson Street instead of across the Panhandle Bridge. Then they will turn right and cross the Smithfield Street Bridge at Station Square.
For outbound service, most of the buses will use a different path, turning right at East Carson Street, then left through the Wabash Tunnel. That tunnel, which usually is inbound in the morning and outbound in the evening, will only have outbound traffic during the transit tunnel closure.
One bus route, 51L, will use Arlington Avenue for outbound service.
Silbermann said PRT will print and post new schedules and try to coordinate transfers during the closure. The agency is aware of the disruptions riders will face, she said, but the work is needed.
“We have a lot of ‘state of good repair’ work that has to be done,” she said.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.