SW Pennsylvania

[ARMOURERERIC]

The initial public hearing for the reconstruction of the PA28/ Highland Park Bridge interchange was tonight with the first showing of the redesign.  I have yet to see it, but one hint I hear is the signalization of the junction of the ramp from the HP bridge to 28 and the Freeport Rd ramp towards 28 n.

[CanesFan27]

We all have items that really introduced us or got us interested into the hobby. For me, it was hearing my father, other neighbors, and various other people in my area talk about the "New 48". 

I literally grew up on PA 48 - my parents home is still there - and the story of this never completed four lane expressway in Pittsburgh has always interested me.

I've updated an old gribblenation/SWPA Roads Project page on the 'New 48'.  It's amazing how trying to figure out the story behind this route over the years has led to discovering information on many other highways that were proposed and never built in the Pittsburgh area.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-new-pa-48-unbuilt-eastern-allegheny.html

[CanesFan27]

If you lived or frequented Pittsburgh's North Hills often over the last 80+ years, chances are that you are rather familiar with William Flynn Highway which is PA Route 8.  But the name on the street signs are wrong. It is actually the William FLINN Highway named after one of Pittsburgh's biggest political power brokers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For many decades signs along Route 8 incorrectly spelled Mr. Flinn's last name as Flynn. It wasn't until I first wrote about this highway in 2000 that I realized his last name was misspelled.

As a result of his political connections, Flinn's construction firm constructed some of Pittsburgh's most important infrastructure projects of that era including the Mt. Washington Transit, Liberty and Armstrong Tunnels.  It just goes to show that every road does tell a story - even ones that aren't spelled correctly.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-william-flinn-not-flynn-highway.html

[CanesFan27]

A few weeks ago I received a handful of photos showing what would become Interstate 70 in Western Pennsylvania near the Kammerer Exit (Today's Exit 31). These photos are from the 1950s and show the then Alternate PA 71 under construction. The motel in the photos - The Carlton Motel - is still operating. What is interesting is that the highway was originally built at grade. I also came across a vintage 1960s era post card of the Carlton Motel and Interstate 70 that shows the 4" raised curb median and what looks like the lack of a paved shoulder.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2017/12/interstate-70-at-kammerer-construction.html

[Roadsguy]

I noticed two permanent partially variable signs in the Pittsburgh area (here and here), but none of the past Street View captures have them showing anything different (just older versions of the signs if there were any). What do these two signs ever change to?

[rickmastfan67]

I noticed two permanent partially variable signs in the Pittsburgh area (here and here), but none of the past Street View captures have them showing anything different (just older versions of the signs if there were any). What do these two signs ever change to?

The one on I-376 is for when the 'bathtub' floods and they have to close the road and direct traffic off at that interchange.

As for the one on the Liberty Bridge, no idea on that one to be honest.  Might be a different message for the 'morning' Rush Hour.

[CanesFan27]

I noticed two permanent partially variable signs in the Pittsburgh area (here and here), but none of the past Street View captures have them showing anything different (just older versions of the signs if there were any). What do these two signs ever change to?

The one on I-376 is for when the 'bathtub' floods and they have to close the road and direct traffic off at that interchange.

As for the one on the Liberty Bridge, no idea on that one to be honest.  Might be a different message for the 'morning' Rush Hour.

The Parkway East inbound signs replaced an older rotating message sign.  In 2010, Ed Szuba sent me a photo of the sign when it was in use.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2010/01/flooding-causes-rare-i-376-message-sign.html

I want to say the sign changes during the afternoon rush hour since it is only a one lane inbound configuration on the Liberty Bridge.  It's been a long time since i've been through there at that time - maybe yourself or someone in the area can check it out sometime.

[Roadsguy]

I went back through the Street View for the Liberty Bridge one. If the new sign (which is in Clearview and includes To I-279/PA 28 on the right) is anything like the old, it simply switches to blank when it's three lanes out. However, in 2011, both captures from that year had the lower section read Exit Only when it's two lanes each way, something it hasn't done in any subsequent captures. Maybe it's just broken and nobody's noticed. This does mean that they at least used to consider the apparent straight on as an exit, and the ramp to 579 as the through movement.

[Roadsguy]

I also posted this in the Pennsylvania thread in Northeast.

PennDOT has banned trucks on almost all Interstates and some other freeways in preparation for the upcoming winter storm:

https://www.penndot.gov/Pages/AlertDetails.aspx

The affected non-Interstates on the map are US 22 from I-78 to the NJ state line and the entire length of PA 33. Notably, I-95 and I-295 seem to be excluded.

[Roadsguy]

I originally posted this in the Clearview thread, but it applies here as well:

Bad news (for most of us at least): I just spoke with the PennDOT District 8 senior project manager about signage on the I-83 East Shore Section 1 project and he confirmed that PennDOT has returned to Clearview, this project included. I have no idea about the Turnpike Commission.

[CanesFan27]

Friday was a good day for us old-time (can't believe we're now that but I've known Jeff for over 20 years) SWPA Roadgeeks

I was a contributor to a feature on Allegheny River Boulevard that was broadcast on WESA-FM this morning:
https://www.wesa.fm/post/when-driving-pittsburgh-s-major-roadways-was-experience-complete-picnic-stops

and Jeff Kitsko's PA Highways webpage on the Allegheny County Belt Route System was mentioned in the Post-Gazette (even though the writer thought his page was the official Allegheny County page!)
https://www.post-gazette.com/local/neighborhood/2019/02/27/Allegheny-Count-belt-system-rainbow-city-wayfinder-Neighborhood/stories/201902270131

[PAHighways]

Friday was a good day for us old-time (can't believe we're now that but I've known Jeff for over 20 years) SWPA Roadgeeks

It's hard for me to believe my website is older than a good number of roadgeeks, but that's expected as a proud member of the "Old Guard."

I was a contributor to a feature on Allegheny River Boulevard that was broadcast on WESA-FM this morning:
https://www.wesa.fm/post/when-driving-pittsburgh-s-major-roadways-was-experience-complete-picnic-stops

Congrats!  Katie seems to be stuck on a road theme as she's the one who interviewed me about the Crosstown/Bigelow missing ramps last April.

and Jeff Kitsko's PA Highways webpage on the Allegheny County Belt Route System was mentioned in the Post-Gazette (even though the writer thought his page was the official Allegheny County page!)
https://www.post-gazette.com/local/neighborhood/2019/02/27/Allegheny-Count-belt-system-rainbow-city-wayfinder-Neighborhood/stories/201902270131

Before I clicked the link, I thought Allegheny County DPW had finally created a page about the belt system.

[Roadsguy]

A project to reconstruct PA 519 between I-79 and US 19 was just posted to ECMS (project 57201). Interestingly, the control city signage at I-79 is still specified to be Highway Gothic. Supposedly it'll go to construction in late April and be completed in late 2021, so I guess we'll see if it's just another Highway Gothic project in the pipeline or if it'll get changed to Clearview for construction.

[seicer]

I-70 at Claysville, PA but this may be the Dallas Pike interchange (Exit 11), the eastmost exit in West Virginia. (source)

--





The above two are the temporary I-70 connections to US 40 west of Claysville, PA. You can see the tie-in via Historic Aerials and the same location on Google Maps. Looking at the aerials further, it looks like a good portion of I-70 in western PA was built as a relocated US 40, with one of the carriageways reused as part of I-70. (source and source)

[CanesFan27]

Sherman that is a great find and a very rare glimpse of how PA transitioned a temporary interstate end.

Now only if we could find some I-70S items

[Mr_Northside]

Could it happen? Study into Route 28 expressway expansion to I-80 gets funding

To answer the question in the headline:  No.  (actual construction - the study is apparently happening)

Even in the article it says "They have received $250,000 from PennDOT to identify a list of short-, medium- and long-term projects." - it sounds like this study is a lot more general than the article would have you believe. 

Maybe a by-pass (probably 2 lanes) around New Bethlehem could get built at some point, but that's about as big a project as I'd predict.

[ixnay]

Seicer, I like the nostalgic feel of those bottom two pics (the station wagon, U.S. highway cutout shields, interstate shields with the route name).

ixnay

[ixnay]

It's late in the AM drive on 5/16/19, and I-279 is closed both ways from PNC Park up past McKnight Rd.  Is a major reconstruction going on?

ixnay

[PAHighways]

If you are referring to the HOV lanes, those will be closed through mid-June for construction:  https://www.wtae.com/article/long-term-closure-of-hov-lanes-now-in-effect/27013822

SM-G965U

[catch22]

I was in the Pittsburgh area this last week, and I noticed one thing I couldn't figure out.  Our hotel was in Cranberry Township, and on some of the surrounding roads there were white lines painted across the road at odd intervals.  Sometimes they were near intersections (first example, NB US-19), and sometime they appeared on either side of a driveway entrance (second example, again US-19, on both sides).  What are these used for?

https://goo.gl/maps/sEwRxq8tRdtbCqhc6

https://goo.gl/maps/fgAMfm6gXB1fCGbJA

[PAHighways]

VASCAR lines for local cops to determine if you are speeding by timing you between lines with a stop watch.  Only PSP is allowed to use radar

SM-G965U

[catch22]

VASCAR lines for local cops to determine if you are speeding by timing you between lines with a stop watch.  Only PSP is allowed to use radar

SM-G965U

Thank you.  Didn't know about the radar restrictions.

[Gnutella]

VASCAR lines for local cops to determine if you are speeding by timing you between lines with a stop watch.  Only PSP is allowed to use radar

SM-G965U

Thank you.  Didn't know about the radar restrictions.

Quite frankly, I hope that never changes. The last thing Pennsylvania needs is a bunch of shithole boroughs that just happened to win the highway lottery balancing their annual budget with radar guns.

[jemacedo9]

//

VASCAR lines for local cops to determine if you are speeding by timing you between lines with a stop watch.  Only PSP is allowed to use radar

SM-G965U

Thank you.  Didn't know about the radar restrictions.

Quite frankly, I hope that never changes. The last thing Pennsylvania needs is a bunch of shithole boroughs that just happened to win the highway lottery balancing their annual budget with radar guns.

Speaking of never changing...

https://6abc.com/politics/pa-considers-letting-local-police-use-radar-to-catch-speeders/5367487/

[mrsman]

//

VASCAR lines for local cops to determine if you are speeding by timing you between lines with a stop watch.  Only PSP is allowed to use radar

SM-G965U

Thank you.  Didn't know about the radar restrictions.

Quite frankly, I hope that never changes. The last thing Pennsylvania needs is a bunch of shithole boroughs that just happened to win the highway lottery balancing their annual budget with radar guns.

Speaking of never changing...

https://6abc.com/politics/pa-considers-letting-local-police-use-radar-to-catch-speeders/5367487/

According to the report, the vote was 49 to 1 in favor of radar use.  Wow.