A busy year of work on Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light rail system begins Thursday when tracks will be closed between the First Avenue and Steel Plaza stations.
After trying for two seasons to do work during overnight hours to repair and replace the plinth — the concrete beam that supports rail tracks — the agency will completely close sections of the tunnel in Downtown Pittsburgh so crews can work full time on the project to complete it sooner. The first section will be between First Avenue and Steel Plaza.
That work, which is expected to last until early February, will result in service from the South Hills ending at First Avenue. Shuttle buses will operate every 10 minutes from First Avenue to Steel Plaza, where riders can switch to a local railcar that will run every 15 minutes to continue farther Downtown or to the North Side.
The system will operate in reverse from the North Side.
When that work is done, expected to be in early February, the closure will shift to the area between the Steel Plaza and Gateway stations. The Wood Street station will be closed during work that is expected to take another month.
During that closure, service from the South Hills will end at Penn Station, the ordinarily dormant and unused station at the end of the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway near the Pennsylvanian on Grant Street. Shuttle buses will run every 10 minutes to take riders to Gateway, where they can board another train that will operate between Gateway and North Side stations every 10 minutes.
Again, the service is reversed coming from the North Side.
The plinth work is the beginning of a series of projects on the light rail system.
In the first or second week of January, crews will begin a project to grind the surface of rails in the South Hills in various areas for the first three months of the year for the next three years. Grinding is necessary to smooth the surface of the rails so that train wheels receive less damage when they ride on them, the rails last longer and customers receive a smoother ride.
The work is part of a $1.5 million contract with RailWorks. Most of the work will be done on weekdays with travel reduced to one set of tracks in alternating directions, but some overnight and weekend work will be needed.
During the work, all stations will remain open, but at times inbound and outbound trains will use the same platform. Signs will be posted to tell riders which platform to use.
Work this year will be done in these sections: from South Hills Village to Washington Junction; from Washington Junction to Willow; from Willow to South Hills Junction; and, if time permits, from Washington Junction to Library Station.
The most disruptive work will be the closure of the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel for eight months, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 23. That $26 million project will displace buses and light rail trains while crews replace tracks, the overhead wire that provides power for the trains, drainage and the tunnel liner.
Trains will be rerouted to use the old Blue Line through Allentown, which normally is closed, and proceed onto the Panhandle Bridge into Downtown Pittsburgh without stopping at Station Square. That will add seven to eight minutes to each trip and include an additional stop at Allen Street.
A shuttle will operate between Station Square and First Avenue.
Because of that change, the Silver Line will operate on weekdays between Library and Washington Junction, but it will run to Downtown Pittsburgh on weekends.
Additionally, 10 bus routes that normally use the transit tunnel will be rerouted. They will follow the same inbound route through Allentown as light rail trains, but instead of using the Panhandle Bridge they will go on East Carson Street and turn right across the Smithfield Street Bridge.
Going outbound, the buses will cross the Smithfield Street Bridge, turn right on East Carson and use the Wabash Tunnel to get to the South Hills. The tunnel normally is open inbound in the morning and outbound in the evening, but it will only operate outbound all day during this project.
One bus route, 51L, will use Arlington Avenue for outbound service.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.