PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — From thousands of runners to thousands of sports fans, it’s going to be a busy weekend in Pittsburgh!

Leave early and plan on being patient if you’re going to be heading into the city this weekend as the 2024 Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon will be taking place and the Pirates are also hosting three games at PNC Park.

Pirates facing Rockies this weekend

The Buccos will kick off a three-game series tonight against the Colorado Rockies.

Martin Perez will be on the mound for the Pirates and the first pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. 

Be prepared for increased traffic on the North Shore as it’s a Zambelli fireworks night, which will take place moments after tonight’s game ends.

2024 Pittsburgh Marathon

Festivities for the 2024 Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon will get underway tomorrow.

The race is sold out this year and it’s the largest sporting event of the year for the city. 

Runners can start picking up their race packet and bibs starting at 11:00 a.m. at the Health and Fitness Expo inside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

While there are a lot of people running in the races this weekend, those runners bring fans with them as well, with roughly 250,000 spectators expected in town within the next few days. 

“We have a record number of participants this year,” said P3R CEO Troy Schooley. “Over 42,000 people will be taking to the streets, stating with our kids’ program which is the largest in the country. 8,500 kids on Saturday, 5,500 person 5K and then shifting to Sunday, we have 23,000 people who will either be doing the half marathon, the marathon, or the relay. “

Parking limited in Downtown

Restrictions are already in place around Point State Park.

Starting at 12:00 p.m. today, the Boulevard of the Allies will be closed between Stanwix Street and Wood Street. 

What roads will close in the city?

On Saturday, road closures for the 5K, Champion Mile and Kids Marathon will begin at 6:45 a.m. and continue through noon on the North Side and Downtown.   

For the marathon, half marathon, relay and new 4-mile fitness challenge on Sunday, road closures will start at 1:30 a.m. and continue through 2:30 p.m. Several streets Downtown will be completely closed to traffic. People parked in these areas who may need to get out during the race are encouraged to park somewhere else. 

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – New safety measures could soon protect children from falling out of windows in Allegheny County. It’s one of many proposed safety improvements to the county’s housing regulations.

“It’s a good thing. We’re bringing our housing regs up to the 21st century,” said Patrick Catena, president of Allegheny County Council.

The county council will hear the proposal next week.

Fall prevention devices for the windows of housing in Allegheny County are just one of the safety regulations now up for consideration. And it’s just a coincidence about a week or so after two small children fell from a window.

It’s something Tyler Jefferson will never unsee as the father of those two children who fell.

“It’s tough. It’s tough that we messaged them, and they didn’t do anything until they fell out the window,” Jefferson said.

Quin and Elody fell out of their third-story apartment building’s window onto the concrete window well below and miraculously survived.

New proposed housing regulations in Allegheny County could mandate window fall prevention devices.

“Trying to help the health department for the health department to be able to help them, so I think it’s a good thing all around,” Catena said.

A copy of the new proposed regulations includes guards on stairs, landings, and balconies 30 inches above the floor below, deadbolts for all entrance doors, required lighting for stairways and hallways, stricter requirements for carbon monoxide detectors, and fall prevention devices installed in all windows more than 72 inches off the ground below.

“It’ll come before county council, and county council will obviously act on it, and I expect a positive recommendation from the county council for it to pass,” Catena said.

Housing advocate David Vatz sees a lot of good in it.

“Yeah. Pro-Housing Pittsburgh is broadly in favor of improved health and safety regulations to protect tenants,” Vatz said. “I think one of the things about Allegheny County and Pittsburgh in general is that we have some of the oldest housing stock in the country, and this can often result in substandard conditions for tenants.”

Vatz believes common-sense protections are needed, and calls on policymakers “to make it easier to build new housing in the county.”

“Since we have such old housing stock and don’t build a lot of new housing, there’s nothing that puts pressure on landlords to maintain their sub-standard units and provide the best quality to their tenants.”

These housing safety regulations will be discussed next week at the county council meeting, and if approved, they could go into effect as early as October of this year.