PennDOT is forecasting major migraines on the Parkway East this weekend as it tries to cram as much work as possible into the waning days of the construction season.

Plans call for four separate full closings of the outbound parkway from Business Route 22 to Monroeville/Plum, starting tonight. There will be a welter of other lane closures, some of which will be in effect before, during or after the Steelers game at Heinz Field on Sunday.

While the best advice is to avoid the parkway altogether, drivers who must go there will have some newer ways to cope.

By calling the state's recently activated 511 service, they can obtain real-time information about construction delays on the parkway and all other major highways throughout the state.

The voice-activated system allows callers to say the name of the highway, and a recorded voice returns information about accidents, tie-ups and traffic speeds. Those who cannot access the site by dialing 511 can call 1-877-511-PENN (7366).

The Web site 511pa.com offers a real-time map on which users can display the speed of traffic flow, check for accidents and construction and peer through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's network of traffic cameras. The department has nearly a dozen cameras in place on the affected sections of the Parkway East.

"We're getting close to the end of the construction season. The weather is iffy and the contractors want to try to achieve as much as they can before the weather gets bad and they can't do anything," PennDOT spokesman Jim Struzzi said.

The outbound Parkway East from Exit 80 at Business Route 22 to Exit 84 at Monroeville/Plum will be fully closed during the following times: 9 p.m. today to 5 a.m. tomorrow; 9 p.m. tomorrow to 9 a.m. Saturday; 10 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday; and 7 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday.

The on-ramp from Penn Hills to the outbound parkway also will be closed. The detour will be along Business Route 22.

The closures will allow placement of beams for a new bridge carrying Jefferson Heights Road over the parkway just east of Penn Hills (Exit 81).

These other restrictions are planned for the Parkway East from today through Monday:

• The outbound right lane will be closed starting at 5 a.m. today through 5 a.m. Monday in the area of the Jefferson Heights Road bridge. Two outbound lanes will stay open except for the periods when the entire outbound side is shut down.

• One lane will close outbound in the area of the Garden City Drive overpass in Monroeville from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow. Two outbound lanes will close in the same place from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, during bridge painting.

• Inbound traffic will be reduced to one lane from 9 p.m. today to 5 a.m. tomorrow at the Jefferson Heights Road bridge.

• Inbound traffic will be reduced to one lane from 9 p.m. tomorrow through 5 a.m. Monday from Monroeville/Plum to Penn Hills, a section that is being repaved.

The $24.7 million project is phase four of PennDOT District 11's Parkway East improvement program, which continues through next fall. The repaving and bridge repair work was focused on the inbound side this summer and will shift to the outbound side from Churchill to the Pennsylvania Turnpike next year.

PennDOT also announced yesterday that it plans to close part of the inbound Parkway West over the weekend of Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. The upper deck of the Fort Duquesne Bridge also is tentatively scheduled to close for that weekend.

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