PennDOT to present options Thursday to fix dangerous Squirrel Hill interchange on Parkway East

Anyone who has had to get on or off the outbound Parkway East at Squirrel Hill knows that white-knuckle feeling where traffic crisscrosses in that short stretch of Beechwood Boulevard.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will present a series of options Thursday aimed at reducing that anxiety-producing action in the next five years. The project, which could cost as much as $100 million, also includes improving Forward Avenue south of Murray Avenue and Beechwood Boulevard from Ronald Street to Monitor Street, as well as lengthening the inbound ramp from Squirrel Hill to the Parkway East to provide an easier merge for motorists.

PennDOT will be looking for public input on the design options when it holds an information meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday at Greenfield Elementary School, 1 Alger St., said Doug Seeley, assistant district director for design. The project is still in the very early stages of design, and the agency wants to hear feedback from motorists and people who live in the compact area before it settles on the final configuration.

In an interview, Seeley said several of the ramps around the tunnel don’t meet current design standards, so PennDOT will be realigning and reconfiguring all interchange ramps as well as constructing bridges and retaining walls as part of this project. The lanes on the highway approaching the tunnel also will be rehabilitated.

But the biggest element to improve safety is eliminating the conflicts at the outbound Squirrel Hill exit.

“They alternatives we’re looking at look to change that area so you don’t have that crisscross,” Seeley said.

The work at Forward, Beechwood and Monitor is designed to improve intersection safety and traffic movement through the addition of traffic signals and possibly a roundabout. Sidewalks, bicycle facilities and transit stops also will be upgraded.

The project already is scheduled for funding through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s Transportation Improvement Program for early 2029. Work is expected to take two years.

Seeley said more precise cost estimates, information on how the work will affect traffic and whether any property would have to be taken won’t be known until the department decides which design option it will use.

Thursday’s presentation will provide an overview of the project, a question-and-answer period and a series of design boards showing potential configurations of the ramps.