Commuting for some 17,497 motorists from the Monongahela Valley to Downtown Pittsburgh will get more complicated Monday when the Glenwood Bridge is reduced to one lane in each direction.
Allegheny County, which owns the bridge, said the restriction will begin at 6 p.m. Monday so crews can replace 11 expansion dams and do other work on the 2,276-foot bridge. The bridge carries Route 885 over the Monongahela River between Pittsburgh’s Hays and Hazelwood neighborhoods and becomes Second Avenue as it heads into the Golden Triangle.
Alternatives to using the Glenwood Bridge include getting on the Parkway East in Swissvale or Squirrel Hill or following East Carson Street on the city’s South Side to the Smithfield Street Bridge.
Expansion dams are installed on bridges to allow the structures to expand or contract during weather changes without damaging the deck surface. Maintaining the dams is important to ensure the long-term structural health of a bridge.
The work is part of a $4.9 million bridge preservation project by Mosites Construction Co. Mosites started the project last March with steel, deck, sidewalk, drainage, and approach pavement repairs; painting; concrete cleaning and sealing; and scour and erosion remediation.
The structure opened in 1966 as the replacement for an iron bridge that dated back to 1894 and carried streetcars into the city.
In addition to the expansion dams, this year’s work includes barrier replacement and pier repairs. The project is scheduled to be finished in November.
The bridge has a fair rating of 5 on the 0-9 scale used by the Federal Highway Administration.
Penn Hills
A portion of Leechburg Road in Penn Hills will be closed from 9 a.m. Monday through mid-April for slide remediation work and other repairs.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said Leechburg will be closed between Courtney Avenue and Sutton Drive. A. Liberoni Inc. will address the slide, improve drainage and reconstruct the shoulder and roadway under a contract it has for several projects.
The recommended detour from east of the closure has drivers turn left on Milltown Road, left on Hulton Road, and left on Saltsburg Road back to Leechburg. The detour is the opposite for motorists west of the closure.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.