Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has announced that 40 miles of Pittsburgh roads will be repaved this year at a cost of $10 million. This is from his news release:

“This year’s capital budget allows us to invest in our infrastructure and improve even more roads in our city … Paving and resurfacing city streets is just one way that we work to keep Pittsburgh as America’s ‘Most Livable City.’”

Sorry to rain on the mayor’s pavement, but 40 miles is nowhere near the 75 to 100 miles per year that Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski has said he would like to do per year, which is what would be required to keep the city’s street network in good repair. And it’s 20 fewer miles than last year’s program.

While the city has a lot of things to brag about, the condition of its streets is not one of them.

You can view the list of streets to be paved here.

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U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster announced on Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency will not do another round of reviews on the proposed widening and relocation of Route 219 in Somerset County. This should clear the way for construction on a project that has been talked about and planned for nearly a half-century. With the EPA signoff, the work now needs a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected soon. This Post-Gazette story from February explains why some wanted more scrutiny of the project’s environmental impact and shows where the new road would be built.

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How cool is PennDOT? PennDOT is on YouTube.

Today it announced the launch of its channel, www.youtube.com/PennsylvaniaDOT. “Our YouTube channel is our next step in communicating with our customers in more personal, interactive ways,” PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch said in a news release. Posted there so far are a 25-minute time lapse video of repair work after the May 9 tanker fire at the Interstate 81 and U.S. 22/322 interchange (definitely worth a look), educational and safety videos; and features on PennDOT operations and initiatives.

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PennDOT driver’s license and photo centers will be closed Saturday through Monday for the Memorial Day weekend.

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Traffic on Route 65 will be reduced to one narrow lane in both directions starting tonight for a $6.3 million paving project. Starting at 8 p.m., inbound traffic will be crossed to the outbound side from Camp Horne Road in Emsworth to Locust Street in Avalon, with one 10-foot lane maintained in both directions. The restriction will be in place around the clock. Five miles of Route 65 will be resurfaced in Emsworth, Ben Avon, Avalon and Bellevue. The project is scheduled for completion late this year.

Another likely source of big slowdowns is the continuing in-depth inspection of the Liberty Bridge, which may cause lane closures and traffic shifts from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on weekdays through June 14. This has already caused some hefty midday jams. Restrictions also are possible from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 1 and 2. No work will be done May 31.

Watch for line painting on the Parkway North and Interstate 79 all week. Keep your distance.

Inspection of the Rachel Carson Bridge over the Allegheny River will begin next week. The bridge will close to traffic and pedestrians from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting, on the following dates: May 28 through 31; June 3 through 7; and June 10, according to the Allegheny County Public Works Department.

The signs are up advertising the closing of Valley Brook Road at Route 19 in Peters on Wednesday as reconstruction of that awkward, shabby interchange begins. You’ll probably like the finished product but it’s going to cost you 16 months of detours. For those east of Route 19, McMurray Road is the official alternate; to the west, Mayview and Boyce roads. You might have some better ways to go.

Inspection of the 10th Street Bridge will cause alternating right-lane closures in both directions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday.

The dreaded alternating one-way traffic pattern will be in effect overnight on Duncan Avenue between Babcock Boulevard and Thompson Run Road in McCandless starting at 6 p.m. weekdays and concluding daily by 6 a.m., with extra police on hand to control traffic. Project is scheduled to be completed in August.

Alternating one-way traffic also will be in effect on Freeport Road from Western Avenue in Aspinwall to the Route 28 Blawnox interchange in O’Hara from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays through late June.

PennDOT announced that Washington Road in Findlay will be closed through early July between Route 30 and Potato Garden Road for bridge work. It’s not a heavily traveled stretch, with about 700 daily vehicles.

Interstate 80 is restricted to one lane in both directions for three miles west of Exit 24 Grove City/Sandy Lake in Mercer County by road work. The restrictions are expected to be in place until Friday afternoon.

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Here's a little quiz for those who drive in Downtown Pittsburgh. Good luck to all!!!!

1. What does the following sign require drivers to do?

2. This white line, which appears at most signalized intersections before the crosswalk, is called a "stop line." Why is it called that?

3. For how long is it permissible to continue through an intersection after a traffic signal of this color ....

turns to this color?

4. What traffic movement does this sign prohibit, and during what period?

Stumped? You can find the answers here.

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American Airlines will add daily nonstop flights to and from Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27. The flights will depart PIT at 4:30 p.m. and arrive at LAX at 6:50 p.m. The return flight will depart LAX at 8:10 a.m. and arrive at PIT at 3:30 p.m. The aircraft will be a Boeing 737 with 16 first-class seats and 134 coach seats.

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Pennsylvania American Water will have a ceremony on Friday to celebrate the completion of $100 million of upgrades to the Hays Mine treatment plant and Becks Run pumping station. Safe to say that drivers who use Becks Run Road will be popping corks in relief that the many traffic restrictions they've endured for the past two years will be behind them.

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PennDOT has tentatively set May 24 for reopening the city end of the 31st Street Bridge.

Another weekend closure of the outbound Squirrel Hill Tunnel is scheduled from 11 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday. There is no closure scheduled over the Memorial Day weekend, but the inbound tunnel is slated for shutdowns on the first two weekends in June.

Lane closures are possible on these bridges today and Friday: Westinghouse Bridge from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today; Tarentum Bridge from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today; McKees Rocks Bridge from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.

Overhead sign inspections on the Parkway North, including the HOV lanes, are scheduled today and may cause lane closures at various places between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Traffic signal work may cause lane closures on McKnight Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through May 24 at Babcock Boulevard, Duncan Avenue, Cumberland Road and Arcadia Drive.

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The Montour Trail Council is making great progress on a project that will eventually eliminate a 600- to 700-foot gap in the trail near Route 19 in Peters. A contractor has completed construction of abutments for the first of two bridges that are needed to span the gap and expects to place the 100-foot bridge structure on Wednesday or Thursday.

That bridge will be part of a westward extension (shown in red) from the Arrowhead Trail to a point directly across Valley Brook Road from where the trail resumes. When it is complete this summer, users will no longer have to travel along Valley Brook -- they’ll only have to cross it.

A bridge over Valley Brook to complete the connection is a longer-term goal.

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More happy trails: Work to resurface the Three Rivers Heritage Trail on the North Shore is progressing well, according to Scott Baxter, executive director of Friends of the Riverfront. Chronic drainage issues have been corrected and reclaimed asphalt is being put down. If the weather holds, the first of two top layers will go in Wednesday, the second on Thursday. Meanwhile, that section of trail, from 660 River Ave. to the Three Rivers Rowing Association, remains closed this week. Mr. Baxter offered thanks to the Laurel Foundation, Hillman Family Foundations and They Working Fund at The Pittsburgh Foundation for underwriting the project.

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There are all sorts of online calculators for determining how much alcohol puts you over the DUI limit, currently 0.08 but if the National Transportation Safety Board has its way, reduced to 0.05. According to the calculator of Progressive Insurance, a 180-pound male passes the lower limit with three 12-ounce beers in an hour. A 120-pound female goes well past 0.05 with two drinks in an hour. Even if she nurses those two cocktails for two hours, our hypothetical female is right at the proposed limit. A 220-pound guy doesn’t go over the proposed line until the fourth drink in one hour.

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Yellow Cab announced that military personnel in uniform will get free cab service from Pittsburgh International Airport to anywhere in Allegheny County through the end of this year and possibly beyond. “With Memorial Day approaching, we thought this was the ideal time to introduce the program,” said Jamie Campolongo, CEO of Pittsburgh Transportation Group.

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Squirrel Hill Tunnel reminder No. 656: Closed outbound this weekend from 10 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday.

Water line work will cause alternating one-way traffic on Scrubgrass Road in Scott from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through late June, with some weekend work possible. The site is at a culvert at Scrubgrass Run.
 
Repairs to concrete median barriers will cause left-lane closures in both directions on the Parkway East in Oakland starting two hours after the Penguins game ends tonight, and in both directions from Penn Hills to Monroeville starting at 10 p.m. Wednesday. Work concludes by 5 a.m.

Here's another map of the Route 837 project we talked about in Monday's post, this one not drawn by an amateur. Details of the closures and restrictions are in the prior post.

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The 10th Ride of Silence will take place Wednesday evening, starting in Oakland. It is meant to honor those killed or injured while bicycle riding in Pittsburgh and to raise public awareness of the need for drivers and bicyclists to share the road and be safe.

The event and 10-mile ride will begin at the dinosaur statue at Forbes Avenue at Schenley Drive with 45 minutes of ceremony starting at 6:15 p.m., followed by the ride. Organizers are focusing on the mayoral campaign as the May 21 primary nears, and will follow a course that passes as many campaign offices as possible. Expected to attend is Dan Yablonsky, who was severely injured in a hit-and-run crash one year ago. For more on the event, click here.

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Reminder: Nearly two miles of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail on the North Shore will be off-limits through Friday during a construction project. Friends of the Riverfront announced that the project will occur on the crushed limestone section along the Allegheny River, from 600 River Ave. to the Three Rivers Rowing Club Boathouse in Millvale. The work includes correcting drainage problems, elevating the trail and resurfacing it with reclaimed asphalt and sealant. Trailhead parking lots along River Avenue also will be closed.

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The Bethel Branch of the Montour Trail will hold its 8th annual J.R. Taylor Memorial 5K Race/Walk on Saturday, June 1. Proceeds support trail and bridge maintenance and improvements along the trail. Participants can register (fee $20 through Friday, $25 thereafter) at www.runhigh.com. Forms also are available at boards along the trail.

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Work on a two-year $6.3 million construction project on Route 65 from Emsworth to the McKees Rocks Bridge was scheduled to begin today. About five miles of the road will be milled and resurfaced. The initial work will cause short-term lane closures overnight starting at 8 p.m. and concluding by 6 a.m. for about two weeks. Traffic eventually will be reduced to one lane in both directions around the clock.

Elsewhere on Route 65, bridge inspection will cause periodic lane closures from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday in the area between Dickson Street and Laurel Avenue in Ben Avon.

The final phase of realignment of Brownsville Road at Curry Hollow Road was scheduled to begin this morning as an $8.6 million project to improve traffic flow through the area continues. An alternating one-way pattern will be in effect on Brownsville from Willard Drive to Curry Hollow Road with flaggers controlling traffic from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily through May 24. Paving will cause restrictions on Brownsville at Fifth and Sixth streets during the same hours through Friday, the department said. The project to realign Brownsville, Broughton and Curry Hollow Roads in South Park, Baldwin Borough and Pleasant Hills, will continue into the fall.

A major construction project will cause restrictions, road and ramp closures along Route 837 in Clairton, West Elizabeth and Jefferson Hills starting today. The work is at the interchange with Route 51 north of the Elizabeth Bridge. These traffic changes are part of the project and will be in place around the clock through mid-July:

Route 837 will be narrowed to one 10-foot lane in both directions from Burnett Street to St. Clair Street in Clairton; southbound Route 837 will be closed at the interchange with Route 51 and traffic will detour using the on-ramp to Route 51 and the ramp from Route 51 back to Route 837. Northbound Route 837 will remain open. The ramp from northbound Route 837 to southbound Route 51 will be closed, as will the southbound Route 51 ramp to northbound Route 837. Detours have been posted.

Nearby on Route 51, temporary lane restrictions are possible at several intersections during traffic signal work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through May 24. The affected intersections are at Weigles Hill Road in Elizabeth Township, Lewis Run Road in Pleasant Hills and Peters Creek Road, Old Clairton Road, Jefferson Boulevard and Coal Valley Road in  Jefferson Hills.

Emergency work to repair an inlet box has closed the southbound right lane on Route 48-Mosside Boulevard between Daugherty Drive and Gateway Campus Boulevard in Monroeville. The lane was expected to reopen this week.

More work on Route 50: Short-term lane closures are possible weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Hope Hollow Road in Scott to Boden Avenue in Carnegie. Overnight lane closures are possible after 8 p.m. daily. Crews will patch and repave.

Northbound Seventh Street in Downtown Pittsburgh is closed between Liberty and Penn avenues by construction in front of the Benedum Center.

Restriping of the 10th Street Bypass will cause ramp closures and lane restrictions on Tuesday. The Fort Duquesne Bridge off-ramp to the bypass and the eastbound left lane of the bypass will be closed from 10 a.m. to noon. The Fort Pitt Bridge off-ramp to the bypass and the eastbound right lane will close from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Traffic will be detoured from the bridges to Fort Duquesne Boulevard.

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