A portion of the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway around Negley Station will be closed for the next two weekends, one for private work and the other for part of a Pittsburgh Regional Transit renovation project.
The first closure beginning Saturday is for private crews to perform maintenance work on a sign at the Assembly Building, a structure adjacent to the busway on Centre Avenue. The detours are expected to add 10 to 15 minutes to the trip on the busway, which runs from
Swissvale to Downtown Pittsburgh.
During the second weekend, PRT contractors will mill and repave the busway surface around the station as part of a $2.5 million renovation project.
Inbound buses will serve the East Liberty Station and then leave the busway at Ellsworth Avenue, turn right on Amberson Avenue, left on Bayard Street and back on the busway at Neville Street. There will be a stop at Ellsworth and Negley.
Outbound buses will exit at Neville Street, turn left on Ellsworth and return to the busway. There will be a stop at Ellsworth and Negley.
The busway will operate as normal on Monday through Friday.
The station renovation project, which should finish next month, improves the pedestrian approach to the station with new lights, more landscaping, a better stop-and-ride area for motorists to drop off bus riders and a safer area to cross the busway.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.