No rest for road workers during this week’s heat wave

Blistering hot, dry weather this week might be uncomfortable for workers, but it’s ideal weather for most roadwork. And there’s plenty:

• Fifth Avenue — Construction will begin Monday on Fifth Avenue in Oakland for the dedicated inbound lane for Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s University Line. Independence Excavating Inc. will relocate water and sewer lines, prepare conduit for new transit stations, install new traffic lights and replace sidewalks between Carlow Drive and Bellefield Avenue. Eventually, stations will be built along Fifth Avenue at Craft Avenue, Chesterfield Road, University Place and Tennyson Avenue, along with improvements to the station at Atwood Street. Crews removed the traffic island at Fifth and Bellefield over the weekend to help ease congestion during construction. Parking on the inbound side of Fifth Avenue will be limited. Pedestrians can use the outbound side, and temporary crosswalks will be available. Crews started earlier this year with similar work on Forbes Avenue. Buses began using dedicated lanes in Downtown Pittsburgh on Sunday, but the rest of the $291 million system won’t be finished until 2027.
• Interstate 279 — The High Occupancy Vehicle lanes will close from 6 a.m. Tuesday until early to mid-July while crews create new traffic patterns so that they can later make repairs to piers on Interstate 579. Concrete barriers between the HOV lanes and I-279 and between the HOV lanes and I-579 will be removed. Next month, that will allow regular traffic to use part of the southbound HOV lanes on both highways. Traffic will be shifted to the HOV lanes near the Swindell Bridge and cross back over to I-579 on the Veterans Bridge using two 11-foot lanes. That will allow the most traffic to continue using the highways while crews make repairs to bridge piers on I-579. Inspectors found deterioration on the piers weeks ago, and repairs are being made on the southbound piers. Work on the northbound piers will begin when the traffic is shifted.
• Hilltop Road — Single-lane alternating traffic will occur in Collier and Heidelberg beginning Monday and lasting through December. Crews will work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays between Washington Pike and Thomas Run and Oakdale Road. The project will include milling and paving, improving drainage, slope repairs, and guide rail improvements.
• Route 22 — Survey work between McClure Road and Old William Penn Highway in Monroeville that was postponed last week due to rainy weather is rescheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Flaggers will assist motorists through the work zone.
• Parkway East 1 – One outbound lane of the highway will be closed between the Penn Hills and Monroeville interchanges from 9 a.m. Monday through 3 p.m. Wednesday. Crews will install guiderail as part of the $70.1 million project to improve the highway between Churchill and Monroeville.
• Parkway East 2 — Work will continue Monday through Friday on a retaining wall on the outbound side of the highway near the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. The work will cause the closure of the right-hand lane and shoulder between the tunnel and the Edgewood-Swissvale exit between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. In addition, the Beechwood Boulevard entrance ramp to the parkway will be closed. Detours will be posted. The work is part of the $95 million project to replace the Commercial Street Bridge by building a new one beside it.
• Route 28 — Work to install the emergency warning system for wrong-way drivers will continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday in O’Hara and Harmar. Crews will install conduit and do other preparatory work for the system. The northbound and southbound shoulders at RIDC Drive will have restrictions, and the northbound ramp to Harmar/Pennsylvania Turnpike/Route 910 will have a lane restriction. The system is expected to begin operation early next year.
• Route 51 — Joint and crack sealing work will take place from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily through early August between Curry Hollow Road in Pleasant Hills and Englert Street in Pittsburgh. That will result in single-lane restrictions.
• Liberty Bridge — Inspection work Monday will cause single-lane restrictions from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. inbound and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. outbound.