From the Huffington Post comes word that New York City intends to deploy license plate cameras at all entrances to and exits from Manhattan.

The ring of steel is expanding. New York City Police Department Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced a “major project” at a budget hearing on Tuesday to install license plate reader cameras “in every lane of traffic on all of the bridges and tunnels that serve as entrances and exits to Manhattan.”

Soon, no one will be able to drive onto or off of the island without potentially being recorded.

Currently, Kelly said, the NYPD has “complete” coverage on the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and the Battery and Holland Tunnels. License plate readers will be commissioned for additional bridges by this summer. The devices can quickly scan license plate numbers and submit the time and place they were captured to a database.
Kelly also said the department has mounted a high-resolution camera on an NYPD helicopter and given it “sophisticated down-link technology to provide real-time, high-quality video of incidents as they unfold.” The commissioner has expressed interest in flying unmanned drones to watch over demonstrations as well.

The full story is here.

Across the nation in Los Angeles, more cameras, but not to spy on people. The city has become the first in the world to connect all of its traffic signals to a central automated control center. From The California Report and KQED public TV:

Last month, the city of Los Angeles achieved a major milestone: every one of its nearly 4,400 signalized intersections is now monitored and synchronized for more efficient traffic flow. L.A. is the first city in the world to do so, and the Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control System (ATSAC), which coordinates the effort, runs from inside a former bomb shelter four stories under City Hall East.

ATSAC’s headquarters is a calm, quiet nerve center where a team of traffic engineers monitors more than a dozen screens showing live video feeds and animated graphics for every signalized intersection in the city. Engineer Edward Yu, who oversees ATSAC, says gathering traffic data from the roads requires three things, the first of which lies beneath the pavement.

“Loop detectors are the magnetic induction loops embedded in the ground. They’re really the eyes that we use to see the traffic,” Yu says. “As cars drive over them, they give us data about the speed, volume, and how long the cars have been sitting there.”

The second component is cameras. Engineer Eric Zambon says there are more than 400 of them across the city - cameras that have pan, tilt and zoom capabilities mounted on 20 to 30-foot poles.

Go here for the rest of the story.

IBM’s Smarter Cities report on Pittsburgh said a similar system would be ideal here but possibly not affordable. Instead it recommended a “distributed” control center that relies on drivers to use information supplied by the city to plan their travel efficiently.

PennDOT and police in South Fayette and Cecil this morning announced a six-week crackdown on aggressive driving. Police will target those who run red lights, drive too fast and tailgate. They planned stepped-up enforcement on Route 50 following the announcement. More than 350 departments are taking part in the statewide campaign, which continues through April 28.

PennDOT will close the outbound Squirrel Hill Tunnel this weekend as a $49.5 million rehabilitation project enters its second season. The tunnel will close at 11 p.m. Friday and reopen by 6 a.m. Monday. Crews will begin removing the false ceiling as was done in the inbound tunnel last year. Outbound traffic will be required to exit at Squirrel Hill. There are two posted detours. From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., the route follows Forward Avenue, Beechwood Boulevard, Forbes Avenue and South Braddock Avenue. The overnight detour uses Murray Avenue rather than Beechwood Boulevard. The tentative construction schedule also calls for weekend closures April 5-8, April 19-22 and April 26-29.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed in both directions between Butler Valley (Exit 39) and Allegheny Valley (Exit 48) from 11:59 p.m. Saturday until 5 a.m. Sunday to allow for demolition of the bridge carrying Middle Road over the turnpike. It was closed March 11 for replacement. The detour uses Routes 8 and 28.

Lane closures are possible on Interstate 70 near the Bentleyville interchange after 9 p.m. and before 5 a.m. daily through mid-July. Daytime restrictions are possible on Route 917, Bentleyville Road and Wilson Road. The restrictions are needed to allow test drilling for the planned reconstruction of the interchange.

Lane closures are possible on Leechburg Road between Saltsburg and Milltown roads in Penn Hills from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays starting Wednesday and continuing through April 10 as crews make drainage improvements.

Inspection of the Thornburg Bridge may cause lane closures from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

@pgtraffic on Twitter

Like Pittsburgh On the Go on Facebook

It’s a rare situation: Port Authority riders needn’t worry about significant service reductions anytime in the near future, thanks to the $30 million annual infusion from the state that matched union givebacks in the contract bargained last year.

Projected deficits for the next two years are manageable without service cuts, but the authority also projects that Gov. Tom Corbett’s recent funding proposal, now pending in the Legislature, would be insufficient to sustain it over the longer term. If the plan passes as is, the agency projects a $26 million accumulated deficit by the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2015 — for now, that appears to be the next point at which service cuts would loom. So happy riding while it lasts.

Incidentally, the authority also has projected what would happen if the Legislature passes all of the recommendations made in 2011 by the governor’s Transportation Funding Advisory Commission (which Mr. Corbett only partially embraced in his own plan). It would leave the authority with an estimated $26 million surplus as of July 1, 2015, enabling it to restore some of the service that has been cut over the years.

A reminder that quarterly schedule tweaks were made on several Port Authority bus routes, effective today. Interestingly, rail timetables have NOT changed since last summer’s elimination of nine little-used stops at the behest of County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. The system remains way short of its potential for speed and efficiency, with too many needless pauses between stops and stations.

Lane closures are possible on Route 51 between Coal Valley Road and High Road in Jefferson Hills and West Elizabeth from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting, as crews do research for future projects.

Ramp inspections at the Liberty Bridge-Interstate 579-Crosstown Boulevard interchange are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with traffic shifted around work areas. Lane closures are possible on Forbes Avenue, Fifth Avenue and Diamond Street beneath the ramps.

There’s more! See previous posts for other construction advisories in your road ahead.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

@pgtraffic on Twitter

Like Pittsburgh On the Go on Facebook

State Rep. Joseph Markosek, D-Monroeville, is pressing for passage of legislation to ban the use of handheld devices while driving, citing a recent report by the Governors Highway Safety Association that crash deaths are increasing among teen drivers.

“Too many young people are killed by car accidents each year. Despite the current law prohibiting texting while driving, six Pennsylvania teen drivers were killed in the first six months of 2012,” he said in a release.

“Our current ban on texting while driving is a step in the right direction, but it is inadequate to protect people from drivers, especially teens, distracted by handheld devices. People of all ages should have their hands on the wheel and be focused on the road when they are driving.”

See www.ghsa.org for the full report.

About 45 Port Authority bus routes serving Downtown and the Strip District will see temporary stop changes, and detoured or shortened routes during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday. Routes serving the Strip District will be detoured as early as 7:30 a.m., with other detours starting around 9 a.m. Regular stops and routing are expected to be restored around 2:30 p.m. South Side and South Hills bus routes will terminate at Station Square, where riders continuing into Downtown can transfer to the T for free. Second Avenue bus service will terminate at First Avenue Station and Oakland-Hill District-Penn Hills routes will terminate near Steel Plaza Station. All T rides within Downtown are free. The 28X Airport Flyer will not serve Downtown during the parade. Riders may take the T to Station Square to catch the detoured 28X. P1 East Busway-All Stops riders must pick up their route at Penn Station during the parade.

Most of Yellow Cab’s fleet of more than 300 taxis will be on the streets during the celebration. The company is urging revelers to refrain from drinking and driving. Police and PennDOT say patrols and DUI enforcement will be stepped up over the weekend.

Port Authority and the city of Pittsburgh will resume work on Warrington Avenue in Beltzhoover at 7 a.m. Monday, affecting vehicle traffic, bus routes, parking and sidewalks through Aug. 30. Work will occur on one side of the street at a time and in sections, with detours shifting as the area of impact changes. The work that starts Monday will affect Warrington between Estella and Beltzhoover avenues. Around mid-June, work will shift to the area between Beltzhoover and Arlington avenues.

A $12.9 million project to replace the bridges that carry Route 30 over Electric Avenue in North Braddock will resume Monday as crews focus on the westbound bridge this year. The eastbound bridge was replaced last season. Starting at 7 a.m. Monday, traffic will be restricted to one lane in both directions during work on a crossover. When it is completed, possibly on Wednesday, westbound traffic will cross to the eastbound side, with single-lane traffic in both directions using the new bridge through late October. Footnote: starting March 25, the ramp from eastbound Route 30 to eastbound Electric Avenue will have overnight closures starting at 7 p.m. daily through late April, reopening by 6 a.m. daily.

Traffic on Saxonburg Boulevard at the bridge over Deer Creek just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Indiana Township will be restricted at times from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays starting Monday and continuing through April 5, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced.
Relocation of gas lines for an upcoming bridge replacement project will limit traffic to an alternating one-way pattern, controlled by flag crews. When the replacement project starts in late spring, traffic will be detoured, according to PennDOT.

Inspection of bridges and overhead signs will cause periodic lane closures on the outbound Parkway West between the Fort Pitt Tunnels and Parkway Center from 7:30 a.m. to noon Saturday. That work will continue at other locations along the parkway next week, with all closures occurring overnight after 10 p.m. and before 5 a.m.

The inbound Liberty Tunnel will be restricted to single-lane traffic from 10 p.m. Wednesday through 5 a.m. Thursday for maintenance.

Wallace City Road in New Sewickley will be closed starting Monday for replacement of the bridge over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The five-mile detour uses Routes 989, 68 and 1028. The project is scheduled for completion Oct. 25.

Traffic on Route 422 will be reduced to a single lane in both directions at the Interstate 79 interchange in Muddycreek, Butler County, starting today and continuing through the construction season as work continues on replacement of the I-79 bridges there. I-79 already is restricted to a single lane in both directions. The project will continue through late 2014 with a break next winter.

Work on Elizabeth-Glassport Road/Lincoln Boulevard in Glassport, Lincoln and Elizabeth Township will cause lane closures at times from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekdays starting Monday and continuing through mid-June, from Wall Street in Glassport to Lovedale Road in Elizabeth Township.

Inspections will cause lane closures on Route 65 between the West End and McKees Rocks bridges from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Repairs to the bridge that carries Plum Street over Plum Creek in Verona and Oakmont will start Monday. The bridge is east of Allegheny River Boulevard near the intersection with Dark Hollow Road. Alternating one-way traffic will occur at times from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through the end of March.

Early heads-up: announcing work on the $3.9 million expansion project at Broughton and Baptist roads in Bethel Park will resume April 1, weather permitting. Starting at 7 a.m. that day, and continuing around the clock through mid-October, eastbound Broughton Road will be closed from Paxton to Sansue drives, the same closure as during last year’s work. The detour follows Route 88, Route 51, Brownsville and Curry Hollow roads. Westbound Broughton Road will have one lane open between Paxton and Sansue. Baptist Road will remain open. This project will be completed in the fall.

Overhead sign inspections will cause lane closures at times from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at various places this week. The schedule, per PennDOT:
Monday — Route 51 in both directions in the area of the Liberty Tunnels interchange; southbound Route 51 in Jefferson Hills. Tuesday — Route 51 in both directions in the area of the Liberty Tunnels interchange. Wednesday — Saw Mill Run Boulevard in both directions in the area of the north end of the West End Bridge; inbound Route 65 approaching the Fort Duquesne Bridge. Thursday — inbound Veterans Bridge; outbound Route 65 between the West End Bridge and the Marshall Avenue interchange; Route 65 outbound at I-79 in Glenfield. Friday — outbound Veterans Bridge.

Short-term lane closures are possible on Route 22 at the bridges over Potato Garden Road in North Fayette from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday.

PennDOT has changed the closure point for a bridge project on Prestley Road in Collier to improve access to businesses and churches. Here are the particulars:

Traffic on the bridge being replaced over Chartiers Creek near Thoms Run Road is currently reduced to an alternating one-way pattern controlled by temporary traffic signals. Due to safety concerns with traffic backing through the intersection, Prestley Road has been closed to through traffic from the south (Route 50) since March 11, remaining open from Thoms Run Road only for local access to businesses and churches in the area.
Based on public input, PennDOT has relocated the barrier on Prestley Road to allow access to Journey Assembly of God Church and St. Barbara’s Church from Route 50-Bridgeville. Through traffic, with the exception of school buses, is still not permitted.
At Cavanaugh Landscaping, the entrance from Thoms Run Road will be for large truck deliveries only; the entrance from south/Route 50 will be for customers only, no large trucks.
St. Barbara Church has two parking lot entrances. The northern entrance will have access from Thoms Run Road and the other from south/Route 50. Traveling between the entrances will not be permitted. Journey Assembly of God Church will have access from the south/Route 50 only. Other businesses in the area, including Lane Construction, Sew EZ Shop, Christoff Farm and Wood Waste Recycling will have access from Thoms Run Road only.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

@pgtraffic on Twitter

Like Pittsburgh On the Go on Facebook

There’s another weekend of single-lane traffic on tap for inbound Route 28 — one lane open from the 40th Street Bridge to East Ohio Street from 8 p.m. today to 5 a.m. Monday.

Inspection of overhead bridges and signs continues on the Parkway West this weekend. Look for lane closures from 7:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday inbound between Parkway Center and Banksville Road and outbound between Green Tree and Carnegie. On Sunday during the same hours, watch for crews inbound between Carnegie and Green Tree.

A reminder that the ramp from northbound South Braddock Avenue to the inbound Parkway East is also closed this weekend.

Another reminder: Long-term single-lane traffic has begun on Interstate 79 in both directions at the U.S. 422 interchange in Butler County.

PennDOT will have the chain saws out starting Monday along the ramps at the Parkway Center interchange of the Parkway West. Tree trimming may cause lane closures or shoulder restrictions, and maybe a sore shoulder or two, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays through March 22.

Lane closures are possible on Thompson Run Road between Rodi Road and the Business Route 22 overpass from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Monday through Friday as crews take samples for a future slide repair project.

Burtner Road in Fawn was expected to reopen this afternoon after being closed since mid-January for replacement of a drainage pipe.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
@pgtraffic on Twitter
Like Pittsburgh On the Go on Facebook