Skip to main content

Allegheny County's Red Belt - Not Much To It

Image
By
Allegheny County's Red Belt serves as a northern arc connecting communities between the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers along the northern-most reaches of the county.  It is the shortest and most remote of the county's five belt routes.

For the entire photo set on flickr: head here.

The start of Allegheny County's Red Belt in Leetsdale.

The Route:

The Red Belt begins at PA 65 in Leetsdale and, after winding through the community of Fair Oaks, begins a rural journey all the way to its eastern terminus in Tarentum.  It is a quiet, meandering two-lane journey past country churches, farms, and a handful of larger subdivisions.  

Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church - one of many rural churches found along the Red Belt.

A faded American flag mural on a barn near Culmersville.

The Red Belt does not pass through any towns outside of a random crossroads.  Its intersection with Interstate 79 in Warrendale has some commercial development, but that quickly transitioned to higher-end subdivisions on the edges of suburban Pittsburgh.  East of the Treesdale golf community, the Red Belt returns to a completely rural setting until its final half mile into Tarentum.

The Red Belt intersects with Saxonburg Boulevard in the patch community of Culmersville.

The Eastern End of the Red Belt at Freeport Road.  In the background, PA 366 crosses the Allegheny River via the Tarentum Bridge.

Fortunately, the entirety of Red Belt was well-signed; I did not miss any turns during the 33-mile drive.

All photos taken by the post author - September 14, 2025.

Conclusion:

I was listening to the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Seattle Seahawks during my drive that September afternoon.  And I thought to myself, what was more pointless - the Red Belt or the Steelers defense that Sunday?  The Red Belt really does not provide any value to a driver.  It is slow - I do not believe I saw any speeds over 40 miles per hour.  And to me, it didn't really connect to anything.

This is pretty much the entirety of the Red Belt.  Quiet, rural, with a handful of subdivisions.

I suppose an argument can be made that you can use the Red Belt to avoid tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike between I-79 and PA 28.  But why use the Red Belt when just to the north runs PA 228, and that road has been improved to four lanes from PA 8 to I-79.

If Allegheny County wished to remove this route, I don't think anyone would notice.

The Blue Belt is all that remains for me to complete.  The Blue Belt runs the closest to Downtown Pittsburgh - and it runs by Page's Dairy - so it already has that going for it.

Site Navigation:
Further Reading:
Sources & Links:


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more