Riders of Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light rail system can expect extra delays Sunday through Friday while two major construction projects overlap.
The overlapping projects will mean riders will face two detours during their trips between the South Hills and Downtown Pittsburgh.
The agency had hoped to be done by Sunday with its project to replace the plinth, the concrete beam that holds supports light rail tracks, between the Steel Plaza and Gateway stations. That section of tracks have been closed during the work, so inbound trains have been ending their trips at the normally closed Penn Station and a shuttle bus takes riders to Gateway.
From there, riders who want to continue to the North Side can take a rail shuttle. The process is reversed for outbound riders.
But the agency said Friday that plinth work is not done yet and could continue until next Friday, which means the section of light rail track will still be closed when the agency also closes the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel for eight months beginning on Sunday. The tunnel, which carries light rail trains and buses from East Carson Street on Pittsburgh’s South Side to South Hills Junction, is getting a $26 million upgrade.
Because of the tunnel closure, light rail trains will be shifted to the normally closed Blue Line that runs through Allentown. Those trains will not stop at Station Square but will instead go down Arlington Avenue and use the Panhandle Bridge to enter the Golden Triangle.
Riders who want to go to Station Square will get off at First Avenue and take a free light rail shuttle.
For the first week, riders who continue from First Avenue who already had been detoured through Allentown will be detoured a second time to Penn Station, where they can get a shuttle bus to Gateway.
PRT previously had estimated that detouring through Allentown would add 7 or 8 minutes to the trip. The agency didn’t estimate how much longer the trip might take with the second detour.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.