Landslide work will close one road in Pittsburgh’s Riverview Park until November

A street in Riverview Park on Pittsburgh’s North Side will close through early November so that Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure can remediate two landslides.

Work will start Monday on the slides on Riverview Avenue, which will be closed to vehicular traffic beyond the Allegheny Observatory and Riverview Park Activities Building entrances to Locust Grove. Access to Locust Grove and the remaining portion of the park loop will be from Mairdale Avenue. Cyclist and pedestrian access will be maintained during the work.

Motorists can drive south to north on Riverview Avenue from Riverview Drive, but they won’t be able to enter the Riverview loop.

The park has had a series of 10 landslides in recent years that the city has been trying to address. It has fixed three already but is still looking for funds to address the other five.

The park work highlights a busy week of road projects:

• Interstate 79 – After a week of staging equipment, work on the project to revamp the Wexford interchange at Route 910 begins with overnight lane restrictions Monday. From 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weeknights and as needed on weekends 7 p.m. to 9 a.m., there will be single-lane and shoulder restrictions on northbound I-79 from about 1.5 miles north of the split with Interstate 279 to Mingo Road and temporary traffic shifts and shoulder restrictions on the northbound and southbound interchange on- and off-ramps at Wexford. These restrictions will last until late September so crews from Golden Triangle Construction Co. can widen the shoulders and install temporary barriers. The work is part of a $46.5 million project over the next two years to move the northbound exit about 1,000 feet west of the Brandt School Road-VIP Drive intersection to create a single intersection at Route 910 with the southbound ramps and reduce congestion.
• Fort Duquesne Bridge – Rehabilitation work at the north end of the bridge will cause the overnight closure of the lower deck of the bridge through late February. The lower deck of the bridge and approach ramps to southbound Route 65, southbound Interstate 279 and Ridge Avenue-Reedsdale Street-Allegheny Avenue will be closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. On nights when there are events at the North Shore stadiums or PPG Paints Arena, the closure won’t happen until two hours after the event is over. Detours will be posted.
• Parkway East – Work to construct a retaining wall just outside the outbound Squirrel Hill Tunnel will shift to overnight this week. The outbound right-hand lane and shoulder will close from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Friday from the Beechwood Boulevard on-ramp to the Edgewood-Swissvale exit. The project is part of the $95 million project to replace the Commercial Street Bridge that is beyond the outbound tunnel.
• Route 51 – Southbound traffic will have a single-lane restriction in Pleasant Hills from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday this week. That will allow crews to repair traffic loops at the Glenburn Drive intersection as part of a $19.8 million improvement project from Peters Creek Road in Jefferson Hills to Stewart Avenue in Pittsburgh.
• McKnight Road – Roadside tree-trimming will cause single-lane restrictions as needed in both directions from Venture Street to Perrymont Road in McCandless from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
• Route 28 – Crews will continue to install conduit and signs for the system to warn drivers who are going the wrong way on the highway. This week, work will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at four northbound off-ramps, causing shoulder restrictions: Etna, Fleming Bridge-Sharpsburg, Highland Park Bridge-Aspinwall, and Delafield Avenue.
• Tarentum Bridge – The bridge over the Allegheny River between Tarentum and New Kensington will have single-lane restrictions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday for inspection.
• Interstate 279 – Single-lane restrictions will continue from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday night while crews place a high-friction surface treatment on the roadway between the Interstate 79 split and Camp Horne Road near Arndt Road. The material is used in areas where heavy braking has made the surface smooth, making skidding and hydroplaning more likely.
• Smithfield Street Bridge – The bridge will have lane restrictions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday for inspection.