’Tis the season for road construction projects, and if Mother Nature cooperates there will be several disruptive improvements this week.
Here’s an overview of changes motorists can expect:
Smithfield Street Bridge
The bridge across the Monongahela River between Pittsburgh’s South Side and Downtown will be completely closed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday this week. The closure will allow crews to prepare the bridge for an upcoming full weekend closure.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recommends motorists use the Philip Murray Bridge at South 10th Street and Second Avenue as the detour route.
The historic Smithfield Street Bridge is in the midst of an $8.5 million upgrade that includes a new deck, new sidewalks, concrete and masonry repairs to the substructure and additional lane control signals. Work should be finished this summer.
The bridge is listed as a National Historic Landmark because it has two 360-foot lenticular truss spans, the longest remaining spans like that in the country. Designed by Gustav Lindenthal and built in 1883, it also was one of the first bridges to use steel in its trusses instead of wrought and cast iron, according to historicbridges.org.
Business Route 22
The highway will be reduced to one lane eastbound between Northern Pike and Route 48/Mosside Boulevard from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Crews for Golden Triangle Construction will do excavation work, inlet placements, curb installation, concrete work and paving during the restriction. Motorists will be able to get to all businesses during the work but there could be a lot of traffic.
The work is part of a $23.8 million project to upgrade the road between the Parkway East exit at Wilkins and Route 48. The project includes resurfacing as well as drainage, curb, guiderail, sign and sidewalk improvements.
There also will be a long-term closure of the ramp to Monroeville Mall before the project is finished later this year.
Churchill on-ramp
The eastbound on-ramp from Churchill to the Parkway East has closed and will remain closed through late November.
The closure is part of the $70.1 million project by Swank Construction Co. to improve 4.5 miles of the interstate highway between Churchill and the Monroeville exit at Route 48. PennDOT’s recommended detour has motorists driving north on Churchill Road bearing right onto westbound Route 130 and turning right at the parkway entrance ramp.
The work includes rehabilitating the road surface, upgrading nine bridges and replacing the concrete median barrier and expansion dams. This is an extended project that will last until fall 2026 and include a crossover next year for extensive work on one of the bridges.
McKnight Road
The highway will be restricted to one lane northbound from Monday through next Sunday between the Evergreen Road/Babcock Boulevard interchange and Siebert Road.
The restriction will allow crews from Lindy Paving to conduct inlet, drainage pipe, curb gutter, and mountable curb replacement operations as part of a $27 million project. Businesses will be accessible during the work.
The entire project, which lasts until next spring, will include improvements from Venture Street in Pittsburgh to Perrymount Road in McCandless. At some point, there will be a 12-day closure of the Nelson Run Road interchange, two weekend closures at the Venture Street intersection, and several overnight ramp closures for paving operations and structure repairs.
Sewickley Bridge
Emergency work to repair a damaged expansion dam will close the structure that crosses the Ohio River between Sewickley and Coraopolis for 10 days beginning at 7 p.m. Friday.
PennDOT District Executive Jason Zang described the project month as “a major operation” that is needed because of damage to the expansion dam. Crews welded a plate to handle the problem last year, but now it needs to be replaced.
The bridge went through a major upgrade in the past five years that included work on the dam, but something damaged it, Zang said.
The agency will have posted detours around the site.
The bridge should reopen by 6 a.m. April 29.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.