Three major projects will have changes beginning this weekend. Here’s what to expect.
- HOV lanes — The HOV lanes on Interstates 279 and 579 between Pittsburgh’s North Hills and Downtown Pittsburgh reopened to outbound traffic Friday afternoon after being used for regular traffic since June. The change occurred so emergency repairs could be made to piers supporting I-579 on Pittsburgh’s North Side and the Veterans Bridge. While crews from Swank Construction repaired piers on the main highway, traffic was shifted to the HOV lanes. In the spring, inspectors discovered significant deterioration in the concrete on bridge piers. Out of an abundance of caution, the state Department of Transportation decided to repair a total of 35 piers at a cost of about $6 million. That work finished last week, but it took another week to remove barriers on the HOV lanes to return them to service. The lanes will operate outbound through the weekend and on Monday will resume normal operation of inbound traffic in the morning and outbound traffic in the afternoon.
- Parkway East — The highway will be reduced to one lane inbound from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday between the Monroeville/Plum and Penn Hills interchanges. The restriction will allow crews to replace the concrete deck at the crossover section near the newly replaced bridge over Old William Penn Highway. Old William Penn will be closed from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday between Evergreen Drive and Duff Road, and a detour will be posted. The work is part of the $70.1 million project to improve the highway between Churchill and Monroeville.
- Interstate 79 — Crews will perform a series of projects beginning Friday as part of the $46.5 million project to rebuild the Wexford interchange in Franklin Park and Marshall. From 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday, there will be a single-lane restriction at the northbound off-ramp to Route 910. Crews will be working on attenuators and barrier removal. Monday through Friday, there will be a single-lane restriction from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for milling and paving from just north of the I-79/Interstate 279 split to Mingo Road and a single-lane restriction and flaggers to help move traffic between from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the intersection of Bayne and Nicholson roads to widen the road and add temporary traffic signals.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.