There are still about two months of work left, but progress on improvements to the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel are finally visible to the public.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit closed the tunnel – the only one in the country used by both buses and light rail trains – in February to upgrade the inside and replace the light rail tracks. The tunnel connects Station Square on Pittsburgh’s South Side with South Hills Junction.
With the tunnel closed, most of the work has been inside the facility, but recently crews began installing new light rail track between the end of the tunnel and the stop at Station Square. The project is expected to be completed in October.
As a result of the work, buses and light rail trains have been rerouted through the Allentown neighborhood. Trains follow the normally dormant Blue Line and cross the Panhandle Bridge across the Monongahela River without stopping at Station Square.
Buses also follow the Allentown route, but they continue down Arlington Avenue to Station Square and cross the Smithfield Street Bridge into Downtown rather than using the Panhandle Bridge.
Work on the tunnel also includes replacing the overhead wire that provides power for the trains, improving drainage and installing a new tunnel liner.
The tunnel project is among $150 million in South Hills transit improvements scheduled through 2029. The most expensive will be the $68 million upgrade of the Panhandle Bridge, which opened more than 120 years ago and hasn’t had major work since the light rail system opened in the 1980s.
The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
