PennDOT warns Route 28 motorists to brace for construction delays
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Heralding a year of construction that will slow Route 28 motorists, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will close an outbound lane near the old Heinz plant on the North Side starting Feb. 9.
Northbound traffic will be limited to a single lane in the construction zone, at the Chestnut Street and Heinz Street overpasses, around the clock through early August.
Traffic flowing to Route 28 from the Veterans Bridge also will be affected, particularly at night, when the acceleration lane from the bridge ramp also will be closed, requiring motorists to stop before merging with Route 28 traffic.
The closures are to make way for construction of a $2.8 million, 625-foot-long wall adjacent to the Sarah Heinz Building. An existing wall there is failing, and the new structure will be built in front of it, said PennDOT District 11 Executive Dan Cessna.
"It's going to be a significant traffic restriction," Mr. Cessna said. "People will need to plan accordingly for extra travel time. After events [Downtown] it could be especially problematic."
The wall project is the first of several that will impact Route 28 in the coming months.
Later this year, work will begin on relocation of railroad tracks near the 31st Street Bridge, part of preparations for a long-planned major reconstruction of Route 28 from the North Side to Millvale, a stretch notorious for traffic jams and crashes.
The scope of the railroad work will hinge partly on whether PennDOT secures all or part of the $59.4 million it is seeking for the project from the economic stimulus legislation pending in Congress.
The tracks will be moved closer to the river to provide room for a reconfigured interchange allowing Route 28 traffic to flow freely past the 31st Street Bridge.
Also on the schedule for this year is additional construction near the Etna interchange, which will require total closure of northbound Route 28 for about six months, Mr. Cessna said. Traffic will be detoured via the 62nd Street and Highland Park bridges.
Start dates for the railroad relocation and Etna work have not been determined.
The contractor for the $2.8 million wall project is Joseph B. Fay Co. of Tarentum. The lane restriction will take effect at 9 a.m. Feb. 9.
First Published January 29, 2009 12:00 am
