Pittsburg, PA
Busy stretch of Route 51 to close in both directions for bridge demolition
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Be prepared for a detour along a heavily traveled stretch of Saw Mill Run Boulevard. PennDOT is demolishing a bridge near Woodruff Street at the bottom of Mt. Washington and in doing so, it will be closing the road in both directions.
If Route 51 wasn’t challenging enough, starting Thursday night at 9 p.m., the closures go into place to demolish the bridge. Drivers are reacting as can be expected.
“I actually don’t know how I’m going to get to some places that I need to go,” said Paul Piraino of Squirrel Hill.
“It’s going to be inconvenient but we don’t have a choice. They have to do what they have to do,” said Taofeek Oyekangun of Sheraden.
The bridge over the busy roadway is about 95 years old and goes back to when a railway ran through the Wabash Tunnel. PennDOT said the demolition is needed because it is not feasible to keep repairing and maintaining the almost century-old structure.
“We’re going to have a 24/7 operation to make sure we get this bridge demolition done quickly to return it back to service,” Doug Thompson, PennDOT District 11’s assistant director executive of construction, said over Zoom.
The work is expected to last until Aug. 26 barring any setbacks. The bridge deck will be demolished but the abutments will be left behind to hold the hills in place.
“It’s not a particularly challenging bridge to demolish considering some of the other ones we’ve done,” Thompson said.
For drivers, there may be some creative ways of getting around. Route 51 will be blocked off from Woodruff to Crane.
“I have to drive toward Beechview and then come back on the other street to reach my destination,” Oyekangun said about his detour.
“Tighten up their jock straps and be patient,” Piraino said.
The detours can be found on PennDOT’s website.
Pittsburg, PA
About 5 pounds of bees removed from Acrisure Stadium scaffolding ahead of Morgan Wallen concerts
Acrisure Stadium is buzzing with excitement ahead of the back-to-back Morgan Wallen concerts. Except it’s not the fans generating all the excitement — it’s about 5 pounds of honeybees.
The Fine Family Apiary in Monongahela said it was contacted on Wednesday about a swarm of bees clustered on the stage scaffolding. The apiary put the swarm in a “nuc box” and took them home before moving the bees into full-size equipment.
Owner Al Fine estimates the swarm weighed about 4 to 5 pounds and consisted of 12,000 to 15,000 bees. All said, it took less than two hours to get the job done.
Why do bees swarm?
Swarming is how honeybees propagate, Fine explained. According to Penn State Extension, during swarming, the queen and about half the workers leave their home to establish a new nest. The bees will form a temporary cluster, hanging out while scouts search the surrounding area for a more permanent home in hollow spaces like tree cavities or, occasionally, the walls of a home.
Swarms can stick around for several hours or days until they’re ready to move, Penn State Extension says. Meanwhile, the colony left behind is temporarily without a leader until a new queen is established.
With the swarm at Acrisure Stadium removed, Morgan Wallen’s show is ready to go on. The country music megastar will bring his I’m The Problem Tour to Pittsburgh on June 5 and June 6, along with multiple acts like Brooks & Dunn and Ella Langley.
On Sept. 17, multi-platinum country music star Luke Bryan will bring his Farm Tour to 1846 Farms near Latrobe.
Westmoreland County is no stranger to large outdoor concerts. Some may remember the Rolling Rock Town Fair in the early 2000s, while others may recall Luke Bryan’s stop at a farm in South Huntingdon Township just two years ago. Now the country music superstar is returning to the area.
The Unity Township farm’s general manager, Aleisha Stas, gave KDKA a tour of the family farm, which dates back to before the Civil War. She says Bryan’s team first reached out after finding the farm on social media, but she says at first, she and her family thought it was too good to be true.
“This was around April Fools, so we thought it was an April Fools prank,” Stas said. “My whole family, we were like, there’s no way this is about to happen. But this has been incredible.”
Stas says Bryan’s team is handling everything logistically from parking and bathrooms to deciding exactly where the concert will be staged.
“If we have it on this side of the property, we can hold 12,000 people,” Stas said. “And if we have it on (the other side) of the property, it can be up to 20,000. But we have not determined that yet.”
Many of those decisions will be made as September gets closer. In the meantime, however, the farm is holding off on planting in certain fields until the final concert location is selected.
And while hosting thousands of people may sound a little intimidating, Stas says her family is excited to welcome fans to the farm for what they hope will be a memorable night.
“Obviously, we’ve never had this many people here before, so it will be a new thing for all of us, but we are not worried,” said Stas. “Luke Bryan’s team are experts with this, and I think it will go great.”
Tickets for this concert are currently on sale, and they will run you about $77 per person, plus tax for general admission.
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