PennDOT’s local construction season features five new major projects

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation expects to award contracts for 57 road and bridge projects worth about $537 million in Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties this year.

And it is obvious the emphasis is on major projects. The agency expects the five most expensive projects to cost more than $200 million, and no other new project will cost no more than $13 million.

Overall, the package includes one fewer project than 2024 with a total cost increase of about $54 million. It includes 43 bridge projects and work on 551 miles of roads.

Last month, officials said every district was experiencing such winter maintenance problems that it would lead to reduced paving this summer, but District Executive Jason Zang said the impact would be minimal in this area.

Zang said planning has been going on for several years and it is mostly a coincidence the five major projects are moving ahead at the same time. All the projects have full funding and aren’t at risk of any spending cutbacks by the Trump administration.

Zang said it is “unusual” for the district to have two interchange projects on local interstate highways in the same year, but this year’s work will include starting projects on the Route 22/30/60 interchange with the Parkway West (Interstate 376) in Robinson and the Route 910 interchange with Interstate 79 in Franklin Park and Marshall. Each of those is expected to cost $50 million to $60 million.

Here are the details of the five major projects:

• McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge – Work will begin late this year on a $55 million to $65 million project to preserve the bridge across the Monongahela River between Route 837 in Duquesne and Bowman Avenue in McKeesport. Work expected to last until late 2028 includes painting the bridge, installing a latex modified concrete deck overlay, steel repairs, lighting and sign updates and replacing expansion joints, bearings, a barrier and sidewalk fencing. Two lanes of traffic will be maintained through most of the project, but there will be some single-lane and full closures.
• Route 20/30 interchange at Parkway West – This project, expected to cost $50 million to $60 million and begin in the next few weeks, will involve installing the district’s first diverging diamond interchange. That safety feature allows traffic to turn right as usual, but traffic turning left crisscrosses after a traffic light so that drivers can merge left without crossing traffic. Other work will include a bridge replacement on Route 60 and roadway and ramp reconstruction, slope work, drainage improvements, traffic signals and lights. There will be a series of long-term traffic restrictions before the work is done in spring 2028.
• Route 910 at I-79 – Crews will build two new flyover ramps above I-79 to create a single-point interchange at Route 910 in Marshall and Franklin Park. The $50 million to $60 million project will include preservation work on the existing bridge, new traffic lights, overhead lights, and drainage improvements. Traffic will be maintained through most of the project, but there will be some interstate and ramp closures before work is done in late 2027.
• Parkway East bathtub – This complicated project estimated at $34 million will address chronic flooding where the Parkway East passes through Downtown Pittsburgh adjacent to the Monongahela Wharf, between the Grant Street exit and the Fort Pitt Bridge. The project will raise the height of a 1,150-foot flood wall and install micropiles to strengthen the foundation under the highway so it can withstand increased hydraulic pressure that will be created by the higher wall. The drainage system also will be improved. PennDOT will seek bids for the project this year, but work at the site won’t begin until after the NFL draft in Pittsburgh next April. Traffic will be limited to one lane in the area, and parking on the wharf may be limited. Work should be done by the end of 2026.
•  Route 18 Franklin Road Bridge – Work has already started to replace this bridge over Raccoon Creek in Potter. Traffic will be maintained on the bridge while the new one is built beside it, then the road will be realigned to meet the new structure. The $25.3 million project, which will include a sidewalk and aesthetic architectural surface treatments, should be finished by spring 2027.

A number of other continuing projects in Allegheny County will disrupt traffic until they finish this season or continue into next year. They include:

• Route 8 – This $9.1 million project from the 62^nd Street Bridge to Saxonburg Boulevard in Pittsburgh, Etna and Shaler will have a 25-day closure of the ramp from southbound Route 28 to northbound Route 8, three weekend closures of the 62^nd Street Bridge and a weekend closure of Saxonburg Boulevard at Route 8 before it is completed late this year. Work includes milling and resurfacing, repairing retaining walls, installing a barrier for a future shared-use path, and improving drainage.
•  Commercial Street Bridge – Work kicks into high gear this year to build a new bridge in Frick Park beside the existing one on the Parkway East just outside the outbound tunnel. There will be nine overnight closures of the outbound side for the delivery of beams that will be lifted by cranes in the park and set down in the park for assembly. Additionally, there will be times when there will be single-lane restrictions outbound from 9 p.m. to 2 p.m. — outbound so it doesn’t interfere with rush-hour traffic — so crews can build a retaining wall with reduced disruption for motorists and a full weekend closure in both directions. The $95 million project will be finished in July 2026, when the highway will be closed for 25 days so the old bridge can be demolished and the new one moved into place.
• Parkway East – The first of two crossovers between Churchill and Monroeville this year has already started and will last until June so crews can replace a bridge over Old William Penn Highway. The $70.2 million project will last until fall 2026.
• Route 51 – This project between Coal Valley Road in Jefferson Hills and Lebanon Church Road in Pittsburgh has resumed work and includes milling and resurfacing, preserving three bridges and installing automated traffic signal performance measures at 24 intersections to improve traffic flow. Work on this $25.8 million project will last until summer 2028.
• Campbells Run Road – There will be single-lane restrictions for this $15 million project in a half-mile area from the I-376 Airport/Pittsburgh exit to a half-mile north of the Route 60 Moon Run/Crafton interchange before work concludes in late May.
• Boulevard of the Allies – Four years of work that cost $44.9 million to upgrade a series of ramps adjacent to the Parkway East will finish this summer.
• McKees Rocks Bridge – A $38 million project to preserve the bridge and a series of ramps on both ends of it will conclude this summer. The agency expects another project in the next few years to paint the bridge.
• McKnight Road – The $27 million project to upgrade the road between Venture Street on Pittsburgh’s North Side and Perrymont Road in McCandless will finish this summer. Remaining work includes crossover later this week for work on the structure over Babcock Boulevard.
• Charles Anderson Bridge – The bridge rehabilitation project continues in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park for the span that carries Boulevard of the Allies over Junction Hollow Trail. The three-year project will end in spring 2027.
• Route 28 – Work will start this spring on a $4.8 million project to warn drivers going the wrong way on the busy highway, which has happened more than a few times in recent years. The project between Pittsburgh and Harmer will install lighted signs and flashing lights if a motorist enters the highway going the wrong way. The project had been expected to start last year, but supply chain problems delayed delivery of some materials. Work should be done by February.  

Beaver County

New projects

• Route 68 – Reconstruction will begin this summer on 1.3 miles of the highway between the roundabout in Rochester Borough and the intersection at Sunflower Road in Rochester Township. The project will cost $6.1 million and last until fall 2026.
• Vanport Bridge – There will be long-term single-lane restrictions on the bridge over the Ohio River between Hanover and Potter while crews make steel repairs and do spot painting. The estimated $6.5 million project will be finished in late 2026.

Lawrence County

New project

• Route 18 – Crews will mill and resurface the highway from North Jefferson Street in Wilmington Township through New Wilimington to the Mercer County border. The estimated $5.7 million project will require short-term lane restrictions and at least one weekend closure of the intersection with Route 158 before it is finished by the end of the year.