Electrical work kept the Interstate 279 high occupancy vehicle lane closed Sunday, one reason that North Shore traffic was snarled more than usual after the Steelers-Tennessee Titans game at Heinz Field.

"I've never seen this before and it greatly worsened the traffic situation," Michael English of Butler said yesterday. "There didn't appear to be any construction or accidents."

The HOV lane, a quick getaway to the North Hills for many people, is supposed to be open in the outbound direction after weekday evening games and all weekend. The minimum two-to-a-vehicle rule is not in effect during those off-peak times.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced in advance that the HOV lanes would be closed from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday while Duquesne Light Co. made electrical repairs. But the work took longer than PennDOT or the utility expected.

"[Duquesne Light] encountered complications and glitches," PennDOT spokesman Steve Marsinko said. "We can't open the HOV for safety reasons when the signals, lights and electrical gates are not fully operational."

He said the HOV was reopened about 5:30 a.m. Monday, in the inbound direction, in time for the morning rush hour.

Port Authority buses, police and fans had to deal with other obstacles:

A tractor-trailer driver maneuvering through the S-curve from Ridge Avenue to the Fort Duquesne Bridge ramp got the vehicle's rear wheels hung up on a concrete barrier. When a tow truck yanked it off the barrier, the trailer toppled. Postgame traffic was detoured onto local streets.

West General Robinson Street is down from four lanes to three between Tony Dorsett Drive and Mazeroski Way for construction of a parking garage.

A bus from Connecticut, not here for the game, broke down on Stanwix Street, Downtown, blocking the intersection with Liberty Avenue. At the request of police, Port Authority maintenance responded and got the bus moved as the game ended, but the curb lane on Stanwix remained closed.

"Pittsburgh police, faced with multiple closures of main arteries, did what they had to do and took away temporary bus lanes on West General Robinson Street and the exclusive postgame bus lane on the Clemente Bridge and forced traffic to town," authority spokesman Bob Grove said.

"This understandable move may have helped traffic but it hurt bus movement. [Everybody] worked well together to manage a very unusual and difficult situation."