The Thornburg Bridge in Robinson, Crafton and Pittsburgh will have an extended closure from Friday afternoon through the weekend while crews place a latex modified bridge deck overlay on the surface as part of an ongoing preservation project.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has posted a suggested detour for the estimated 15,000 motorists who use the bridge every day and will operate a shuttle bus through noon Sunday for pedestrians who won’t be able to use sidewalks during part of the construction. The work is part of a $3.15 million project by Swank Construction Co. to upgrade Route 60 (Steubenville Pike) from Woodmere Drive to Cornell Avenue, including the bridge.
This will be the first of two extended weekend closures. Usually weekend work starts about 9 p.m., but by starting earlier the contractor can reduce the weekend closures from four to two.
“This extended start for this weekend (and on the next closure) will allow the contractor to cut two full weekend closures off the schedule,” said PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan. “It will be rough on Friday at the afternoon rush hour, but we felt that the short-term pain was worth the elimination of the weekend closures.”
Cowan said local police officers will be in place to help keep traffic moving and the contractor will allow Pittsburgh Regional Transit and local school buses to pass through the area from 2 to 7 p.m. Friday.
Cars and trucks will have different, complicated detour routes of more than 10 miles each using Interstate 79. The details are available on the PennDOT project website.
Sidewalks on the bridge will be closed from 2 p.m. Friday until noon Sunday. During that time, a shuttle will run about every 30 minutes with stops at Steubenville Pike and West Steuben Street and Steubenville Pike and Cornell Avenue.
The project will have a second extended weekend closure before it concludes this summer, but that hasn’t been scheduled yet.
In addition to bridge work, the project includes improvements to the approaches between the bridge and Woodmere Drive on one end and Cornell Avenue on the other end. That will include new traffic signals and curb ramp upgrades.
The 1,520-foot bridge across Chartiers Creek opened in 1980, replacing the original one built in 1927.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.