Light rail riders will be down to one detour in Pittsburgh’s South Hills beginning Friday.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit said Wednesday crews will finish work between Steel Plaza and Gateway stations, Downtown, by Friday to replace the plinth, the concrete beams that support tracks for the light rail trains. Since Sunday, that project has overlapped with the closure of the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel, creating two detours for rail passengers.
For the plinth work, the light rail tunnel between Steel Plaza and Gateway was closed, and inbound trains were sent to the normally closed Penn Station, where riders could take a shuttle bus to Gateway.
With that work complete, South Hills riders will have only one detour due to the tunnel closure beginning Friday, but it will last about eight months.
Light rail trains have been shifted to the Red Line through Allentown and down Arlington Avenue to the Panhandle Bridge into Downtown at First Avenue Station. The trains skip the Station Square Station, so riders can take a free shuttle train from First Avenue to Station Square.
Buses also have been detoured to Allentown and come down Arlington to East Carson Street, then turn right across the Smithfield Street Bridge to the Golden Triangle.
Going outbound, trains will reverse their route. But most buses will cross the Smithfield Street Bridge and turn right and head to South Hills via the Wabash Tunnel.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.