PennDOT offers 3 complicated options for fixing Parkway East-Squirrel Hill interchange

Residents in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods were left with a lot to think about Thursday after the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation presented three alternatives to fix the dangerous outbound Parkway East interchange at Squirrel Hill.

The alternatives, which range in estimated cost from $112 million to $192 million, all meet the project’s goals of improving traffic flow and safety, said Cheryl Solosky, PennDOT’s project manager. But they all have different designs that would require the state to take from one to 14 properties to make them work.

“At this point, we do have one that we think stands out,” Solosky said, but she didn’t want to say which one because the agency wants a true reflection of the public’s thoughts.

“They all improve things. Now we just have to figure out which one people like best.”

That’s why the department and design consultant Michael Baker International held the forum at Pittsburgh Greenfield PreK-8 school, where more than 50 people watched the presentation, asked questions about the general concept, and later viewed storyboards to ask individual questions. The design team had whittled down the options from at least six to the three that were displayed Thursday, and residents were asked to give written feedback, either on written forms at the event or online.

Right now, the interchange features traffic from the outbound entrance ramp entering too close to the outbound exit ramp, creating a dangerous crisscross point that leads to many crashes and near misses. A key goal is to separate the outbound entrance and exit ramps to eliminate those potential conflict areas.

Some of the elements are common to all three alternatives, such as a roundabout at Monitor Street to slow traffic coming off the highway. And they would all add an option for traffic coming from Greenfield to turn left from Murray Avenue onto the inbound ramp and traffic lights on Murray to control the flow of traffic near the ramps.

All options also would lengthen the inbound entrance ramp from Squirrel Hill, soften the sharp bend on the ramp for inbound traffic exiting to Squirrel Hill and improve the safety and traffic flow on Beechwood Boulevard and Forward Avenue.

There also is a common option to add a multi-use trail along the inbound side of the highway from near Forward Avenue to Saline Street in lower Greenfield that is awaiting approval from PennDOT headquarters.

Here are the major areas where the three options are different:

• Alternative B – The outbound exit ramp begins just before the Greenfield Bridge – farther back from the Squirrel Hill tunnel than before – and traffic exits to the right and turns right at the Greenfield end of a new bridge that crosses from one side of the highway to the other on Beechwood at Boulevard Drive in Greenfield. From there, drivers would either turn right into Greenfield or left toward Squirrel Hill and Homestead at a new traffic light at Beechwood and Boulevard. The new bridge also would be used for inbound traffic exiting at Squirrel Hill with motorists crossing above the highway to the intersection with the new signal. The outbound entrance ramp would remain in the same area. Properties taken: 1. Lost parking on Beechwood: 3,100 feet. Cost: $112 million.
• Alternative D – Outbound traffic has a left exit to a ramp that loops around to Beechwood at Boulevard Drive. The inbound exit ramp also would loop around to the same point. This drives up the cost because the main lanes of the outbound highway would have to be shifted to the right to create room for the left exit. The outbound entrance ramp would be moved farther away from the tunnel to the Greenfield Bridge area. All traffic from Beechwood headed inbound on the highway would turn onto Murray Avenue from Greenfield and make the new left turn from Murray onto the entrance ramp. Properties taken: 14. Lost parking on Beechwood: 1,500 feet. Cost: $192 million.
• Alternative F – This alternative would have three ramps between the highway and Beechwood Boulevard. The outbound exit ramp would exit to the right before the Greenfield Bridge and join closest to the tunnel; the inbound exit ramp would meet Beechwood where the outbound entrance ramp is now; and the outbound entrance ramp starts closest to the Greenfield Bridge. Also, the one side of Beechwood in Greenfield closest to Murray Avenue would be moved closer to the highway to create more room. Properties taken: 6. Lost parking on Beechwood: 750 feet. Cost: $138 million.

Residents and elected officials at the meeting seemed generally happy that PennDOT is dealing with the dangerous interchange. From their questions, they seemed most interested in the possible new trail from Squirrel Hill to lower Greenfield and most concerned about the loss of parking and potential congestion that the roundabout would cause at Monitor Street.

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Barb Warwick said she is happy PennDOT is dealing with the interchange, but choosing the best option will be a difficult choice for residents.

“It’s a very important interchange, and there are a lot of elements here to consider,” she said. “If you live on Beechwood, the scope of this project is pretty amazing.”

Theresa Nightingale said she lives right where the roundabout will be located and supports the idea of slowing traffic. On the downside, she and more than a dozen neighbors on Beechwood – some of whom are elderly and rely on Access transit – will lose their street parking, and alternatives are a few blocks away.

“My house is directly on the edge of the roundabout,” she said in an interview after the presentation. “I don’t see how we are going to have any parking or stopping at all. What will the elderly do? That’s concerning to me.”

Solosky said Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure had been considering a roundabout for the area before the interchange project began. PennDOT will be in touch with city officials to see what can be done about parking there, she said.

The interchange project is in the early design stage, but funding is committed through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s long-term transportation plan. Work is expected to begin in 2029 and take two years to complete.