PennDOT provides update on Route 28 construction project in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – KDKA-TV spoke to PennDOT regarding the Route 28 construction project in Pittsburgh and when it is supposed to be finished. 

It is going to end, PennDOT promised, but one part that was supposed to open soon is going to take a bit longer. A new twist to the project went into effect Tuesday as well. 

According to Jason Zang, PennDOT District 11’s assistant executive of construction, the northbound 28 mainline would be opening to two lanes in mid-October, but a change was made to wait for both sides to be completed.

“We’re going to keep that in a single-lane restriction until we get done with the southbound traffic. So, both northbound and southbound mainline 28 are going to be single lane until roughly the end of the year,” he said. 

The contractor said they still have median barrier work to do too.

“So, they decided that it was going to be safer to do the work, just keeping it that way, given the workers’ protection behind a barrier,” Zang added. 

On the southbound side of Route 28, there is still a hole in need of concrete. 

“That’s going to be poured here this one in the next month. So, yeah, that’s like the last huge bulk of the work that in that medium barrier right there,” Zang said. 

What is not waiting is the new traffic light that went into operation Tuesday. Now, when someone comes northbound across the Highland Park Bridge to get onto Route 28 or come up the ramp from Sharpsburg and Aspinwall, they will come to the new signal. 

Yes, that means a full-stop red light, which PennDOT says is necessary in the name of safety. 

Anyone who has driven through that intersection knows it can be nail-biting trying to merge. The new light eliminates that risk and the accidents that have occurred there. It is a very busy ramp and PennDOT acknowledges it could back up traffic onto the bridge during rush hours, but it should make the merge point safer.