Traffic calming, Parkway East highlight weekend roadwork

Motorists driving in the 2400 block of Webster Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Hill District should find substantial changes Friday.

To reduce speeding in the busy neighborhood, the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure spent Thursday installing a series of traffic-calming measures on Webster. Between the 2400 and 2700 blocks, crews installed two speed humps, safety islands and bump outs to reduce the distance for crossing the street and made crosswalks at intersections brighter and more obvious.

The city said traffic studies in February 2024 show that 80% of drivers exceeded the speed limit of 25 miles an hour with at least one clocked at 59 miles an hour.

City officials expected the project, which includes permanent signs and other markings to identify the measures before motorists get to them, to be finished Thursday.

That work kicked off another busy weekend on Pittsburgh-area roads. Here are the details:

• Parkway East I – The inbound Parkway East will be reduced to one lane
  inbound this weekend from Business Route 22 in Monroeville to the Churchill
  exit. Milling and paving will take place from 9 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m.
  Monday. Traffic from the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be diverted to Business
  Route 22 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday, turn right on Route 48 and take the
  entrance ramp to the highway. 
• Parkway East II – Crews will continue to place a high-friction surface treatment on the roadway overnight through early September in both directions between the Squirrel Hill-Homestead and Oakland interchanges. The work, which will cause single- and double-lane restrictions as needed, will occur from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday and 6 p.m. to noon Friday and Saturday. The surface treatment is intended to improve the grip vehicles have on the roadway where heavy breaking have made it smooth, leading to skidding and hydroplaning crashes.
• Interstate 79, Parkway West – The ramp from northbound Interstate 79 to the outbound Parkway West will be closed overnight for the next 11 days beginning on Friday for milling and paving. The ramp will close from 6 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, 9 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, 6 p.m. Aug. 22 to 7 a.m. Aug. 23, 9 p.m. Aug. 23 to 7 a.m. Aug. 24, and 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Aug. 24 to Aug. 26. Detours will be posted. The Parkway West will continue to have single-lane restrictions for paving work between the Ridge Road and I-79 interchanges through late October with weeknight restrictions from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and weekends from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. The work is part of a $12.6 million project to improve the highway between the two interchanges.
• Fort Pitt Tunnel – The outbound tunnel will have a single-lane restriction from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday while crews conduct drainage work.
• 10^th Street Bypass – The ramp to the Fort Duquesne Bridge will close from 10 p.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Monday for an inspection. A detour will be posted.