SW Pennsylvania

[ARMOURERERIC]

The Jacks Run Road bridge over 279 has been closed due to severe deterioration to a solo support pier on the north side of the bridge.  From images, I am shocked at how bad it is on a 38-40 year old freeway bridge.

[Bitmapped]

The Jacks Run Road bridge over 279 has been closed due to severe deterioration to a solo support pier on the north side of the bridge.  From images, I am shocked at how bad it is on a 38-40 year old freeway bridge.

The bridge is on about a 12% grade. I imagine they salt the hell out of it. If you look at the bridge deck, you'll notice the bottom of the parapet walls is breaking apart due to corroded rebar.

[CanesFan27]

On the Allegheny County Belt Route System, as you get closer to the bottom of the rainbow, you get closer to Downtown Pittsburgh.  So, with the Green Belt, you begin to move closer to the inner suburbs, and for a brief moment or two, within the limits of the City of Pittsburgh.  With this, I had expected to travel through some of the higher-density neighborhoods and communities surrounding the city.  As I drove through the hollows and cut across the North Hills, I did not expect the scenery of the Green Belt to closely resemble its name.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2025/07/the-name-fits-allegheny-countys-green.html

Full photo set: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adamontheroad/albums/72177720327307894/with/54629704098

[74/171FAN]

(Also affects PA 28)  PennDOT - District 11 News: Southbound I-279 to Southbound I-579 New Traffic Configuration Implementation

[rickmastfan67]

(Also affects PA 28)  PennDOT - District 11 News: Southbound I-279 to Southbound I-579 New Traffic Configuration Implementation

Video about this from KDKA:

[74/171FAN]

(For I-70 and PA 51)  PennDOT - District 12 News: Route 51 Diverging Diamond Interchange Implementation Tuesday in Westmoreland County

[rickmastfan67]

(For I-70 and PA 51)  PennDOT - District 12 News: Route 51 Diverging Diamond Interchange Implementation Tuesday in Westmoreland County

Video about this changeover happening later this morning:

[CanesFan27]

(For I-70 and PA 51)  PennDOT - District 12 News: Route 51 Diverging Diamond Interchange Implementation Tuesday in Westmoreland County

Oh boy, the comments on my home town's Facebook page are going to be lit!!🔥. *grabs popcorn*

[74/171FAN]

(For I-70 and PA 51)  PennDOT - District 12 News: Route 51 Diverging Diamond Interchange Implementation Tuesday in Westmoreland County

Oh boy, the comments on my home town's Facebook page are going to be lit!!🔥. *grabs popcorn*

I probably will not drive it myself until after the project is complete.  DDIs have not been a special thing for me since they started popping up in VA in the mid-2010s.

[CanesFan27]

Mark:

Why not?  It's the biggest thing to happen on 51 since the Red Caboose opened!

[rickmastfan67]

(Also affects PA 28)  PennDOT - District 11 News: Southbound I-279 to Southbound I-579 New Traffic Configuration Implementation

Video about this from KDKA:

People are already starting to be confused by this. lol.  Thankfully, no accidents yet that I'm aware of.

[mrsman]

I recently read about the new bus lanes in Downtown Pittsburgh.  Looking over the maps of Downtown, it seems that from Oakland, there is a one-way couplet with Fifth Ave westbound and Forbes eastbound.  But what is weird is that as soon as  you cross Sixth Avenue, Fifth Ave becomes two-way and then only two blocks later it becomes one-way in the opposite eastbound direction (except for buses which can run contraflow westbound). 

For the locals, does this mean that there is a lot of traffic that tends to turn onto Sixth or Ross or Grant to find another street to continue west?  It seems highly unusual that one of the main ways of getting to Downtown forces everyone to turn because of one-way street configurations.

And Forbes also does the weird switch in direction.  For at least the block between Grant and Cherry, it is westbound, but a few blocks to the east, it is eastbound only.

So how do people get around in this corridor?  Do people make a lot of turns just to get through?  Are there preferred ways around to where you don't keep getting hit with wrong ways alot? 

Local insights are helpful.