The ramp from the Highland Park Bridge to Route 28 south reopened Tuesday after a 10-week closure, but it will only be open through the winter.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will close the ramp again next spring for two more months as work continues to rebuild the highway-bridge interchange. The ramp will have a height restriction of 14 feet, 6 inches.
The $47.3 million project, which began in 2020, will have more traffic restrictions on Route 28 between North Canal Street/Kittanning Pike and Delafield Avenue in its final year of construction in 2023. Remaining work includes installing a traffic light near the end of the bridge to eliminate a dangerous crossover for motorists entering the bridge from Freeport Road heading for Route 28 south, and finishing the entrance ramp from Route 28 north to the bridge so drivers don’t face an immediate merge.
Additionally, sound walls with artistic features will be installed.
The project will create new exit lanes from Route 28 to the bridge in both directions, eliminating the current bottlenecks when through traffic is reduced to one lane. When the project is finished, the highway will have four lanes of free-flowing traffic from Pittsburgh’s North Side to Kittanning.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.