West Liberty Motor Speedway

Aside from Route 28, which is in a class by itself, West Liberty Avenue might be the most confounding and perplexing road in these parts.

Four lanes wide, it is striped for two lanes as it climbs south from the Liberty Tunnel, with occasional curbside roadblocks thrown up by parked cars. Driving it is like being in a video game, or a demolition derby. There were 548 crashes and nine deaths on West Liberty from 2004 through 2008, according to PennDOT.

PennDOT has big plans for the road this year and next -- a complete resurfacing from the tunnels to McFarland Road, including digging up the cobblestones, old trolley tracks and slag buried beneath the bumpy surface. The repaved road will be striped with four lanes.

Drivers can put their two cents' worth into the project. PennDOT is hosting an open house to gather input from business owners and residents. It will be in the community room of the Dormont Municipal Building, 1444 Hillsdale Avenue, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

To get you in the mood, here's a tribute I wrote to West Liberty Avenue several years ago.