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PA-51/88 Intersection Improvements to happen

Started by rickmastfan67, October 05, 2010, 10:52:15 PM

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rickmastfan67

PennDOT is going to start on the project in 2013.  I'd say it's ABOUT TIME!  That intersection is a NIGHTMARE.  I can remember when I was young in the early '90s having to go though that intersection a lot since my mom worked in the South Hills @ one of the dealerships.  It was just annoying.

http://kdka.com/local/PennDOT.South.Hills.2.1946101.html
http://kdka.com/local/Route.51.88.2.1947715.html


PAHighways

District 11 should have really held onto the rt5188improvements.com domain (which is still listed on their site), but now they have all of the information here.

It is welcome news all though it spells the end of the the 20-some old signals at the PA 88/Glenbury Street intersection.

Truvelo

I was going to say hooray but upon looking at the plan in PAHighways' link it appears to be completely at-grade. I thought some grade separation was planned like when the Liberty Tunnel intersection was improved. A friend who lives off Clariton Blvd says it's been planned for years but nothing has come of it.
Speed limits limit life

PAHighways

An interchange was one of the alternatives in the earlier plans, but it was axed due to cost.

njroadhorse

Quote from: PAHighways on October 06, 2010, 01:11:26 PM
An interchange was one of the alternatives in the earlier plans, but it was axed due to cost.
Also, an interchange was a part of the mix because 51 was talked about being a freeway back in the day, right?  An interchange would look out of place now in a similar vein to the interchange after the Glenwood Bridge.
NJ Roads FTW!
Quote from: agentsteel53 on September 30, 2009, 04:04:11 PM
I-99... the Glen Quagmire of interstate routes??

PAHighways

The idea to improve the intersection, with additional turning lanes, was proposed as a stop-gap measure before construction of the Saw Mill Run Expressway was to have commenced.  I doubt the interchange proposal could be attributed directly to plans of that expressway and the South Hills Expressway, but rather an interchange serve as the "premium" reconstruction choice.

CanesFan27

Truvelo/njroadhorse,

There have been a number of plans for this intersection - dating back to the proposed expressways of the 1960s to countless plans since.  There have been issues with right-of-way one of the billboards near the Hillview Tavern was a problem.

Unfortunately the topography isn't the best in the area, as both Saw Mill (PA 51), Library Rd. (PA 88), and Fairhaven Rd. (just a bit south) all pretty much come together in a rather narrow hollow.

Anything that would have been interchange oriented would have had to shoehorn through a number of business, churches, and homes and throw in the South Busway and the Overbrook Light Rail line.  In the plan being built, a few businesses - the Hillview Tavern and I think the auto shop on 51 North between Fairhaven and 88 will be removed.  The Rite-Aid (which when it was being built removed older businesses and I thought was the first step to the intersection improvements) will remain.

The Post-Gazette story - http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10278/1092642-147.stm - gives the best detail on what will be done.

Unless the state somehow gets the money to buy all of the blighted Levitske Brothers properties that line 51 from Brentwood to the Liberty Tunnels, any more improvements to the amazingly narrow (to modern standards) four lane road are going to be few and far between.

PAHighways

One of the businesses that balked at an interchange was Eckard Drug, who had built what is now the Rite-Aid that can be seen in the Google StreetView link I posted earlier when the proposals for an upgrade were put forth.

rickmastfan67

http://blogs.post-gazette.com/news/the-roundabout/38733-penndot-giveth-and-taketh-away

Work is starting today by putting up signs and traffic control devices for construction project.

So, if anybody wants to get a good closeup picture of the really old "Rt. 51" direction sign on PA-88, you need to do it fast.

Billden55

ahh the great 51

It is still a disaster in that part of area during rush hour. Also, the lanes on 51 near that are so slim that you can barely drive next to a car without getting super close to oncoming traffic. Even huge trucks have to take both lanes. A couple months ago it even caused a crash with a car and a truck. What the heck. Also my last complaint about it, Why is there so many traffic lights and people are tailgating you or passing you to get to the next red light. The worst highway ever.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/route-51-closed-in-both-directions-due-to-tractor-trailer-crash/488510992

Mr_Northside

I would also agree that, at least in a SWPA contest, PA-51 wins worst ever.
I don't have opinions anymore. All I know is that no one is better than anyone else, and everyone is the best at everything

Roadsguy

It's one of the few (if not the only) four-lane surface roads in the state to break 40,000 AADT. (Others in the Pittsburgh area come close but they're all expressway-ish roads like McKnight Road or the Liberty Tunnel/Bridge.)
Mileage-based exit numbering implies the existence of mileage-cringe exit numbering.



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