Skip to main content

After decades of frustration...PA 51 and PA 88 intersection finally to be redesigned

For decades, residents and commuters in Pittsburgh's South Hills have waited for drastic and much needed improvements at the intersections of PA 51 and 88 in the city's Overbrook neighborhood.  From failed expressway plans and intersection redesign plans, this was one bottleneck that many thought would never go away.

Well, by 2014, the notorious left lane back up on Northbound PA 51 with traffic wanting to turn onto Library Road (PA 88) , Glenbury St.,and buses wanting to access the South Busway will be no more.  The daily mess will be replaced by a two-lane jughandle which will run from near Fairhaven Road, behind the existing Rite Aid Pharmacy, and then utilize Ivyglen St. 

The jughandle will be the key feature to a project that will eliminate all left turns from PA 51 at the dangerous intersection.

Other improvements include a second jughandleon PA 51 South at Fairhaven Road.  This jughandle will also utilize Stewart Ave.  In addition, three structurally deficient bridges and two culverts will be rebuilt.  A third, new culvert will be built over Weyman Run along the northbound jughandle route.

The project will cost between $14 and 15 million.  Construction will begin in 2013 and finish the following year.  A few businesses, including the Hillview Tavern, will be lost in right-of-way acquisition.

Story Links:
PennDOT to unveil planes for Routes 51, 88 in Overbrook ---Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PennDot: 'Jug Handle Will Alleviate Route 88-51 Bottleneck ---WTAE-TV

Commentary:
In the P-G article, it leads with a line from a Joe Grata story in 1993, "The public will get its first detailed look today at plans to untangle the intersection of Routes 51 and 88 in Overbrook."  I remember that story, and a few others and prior to and after it on other plans and delays to revamp this intersection.  I recall a billboard being a problem in a right-of-way squabble.

The WTAE story mentioned how this isn't the ultimate solution but the most cost-effective, and it most likely is.  With any chance to build a urban expressway along the Saw Mill Run valley killed decades ago, the only way to improve any traffic flow patterns on PA 51 is do piecemeal minor improvements.  Over 10 years ago, the much needed Liberty Tunnels, West Liberty Avenue, and PA 51 interchange was built.  Later, improvements were made to the intersection of PA 51 and Woodruff Ave.  Now, the much needed improvements to the 51 and 88 intersection. 

Now only if the state would come up with the money to buy all of the blighted Levitske Brothers property along Saw Mill Run Blvd. and use that to widen Route 51.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The comment about the Levitskie Brothers signs is priceless!

Popular posts from this blog

Old River Lock & Control Structure (Lettsworth, LA)

  The Old River Control Structure (ORCS) and its connecting satellite facilities combine to form one of the most impressive flood control complexes in North America. Located along the west bank of the Mississippi River near the confluence with the Red River and Atchafalaya River nearby, this structure system was fundamentally made possible by the Flood Control Act of 1928 that was passed by the United States Congress in the aftermath of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 however a second, less obvious motivation influenced the construction here. The Mississippi River’s channel has gradually elongated and meandered in the area over the centuries, creating new oxbows and sandbars that made navigation of the river challenging and time-consuming through the steamboat era of the 1800s. This treacherous area of the river known as “Turnbull’s Bend” was where the mouth of the Red River was located that the upriver end of the bend and the Atchafalaya River, then effectively an outflow

Interstate 10S and the original Interstate 110 in California

Interstate 10S is a short spur of Interstate 10 along San Bernardino Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.  Interstate 10S begins at the Santa Ana Freeway (US Route 101) and extends east to Interstate 5 where it merges into mainline Interstate 10.  Interstate 10S is one of the oldest freeway segments in Los Angeles having been part of US Routes 60, 70 and 99 when it was part of the corridor of the Ramona Expressway.  The current corridor of Interstate 10S was assigned as Chargeable Corridor H following the passage of the 1956 Federal Highway Aid Act.  Interstate 110 was a short-lived designation which comprised the segment San Bernardino Freeway from US Route 101 to Interstate 5 between 1964-1968.  The original Interstate 110 was dropped as a Chargeable Corridor during 1965 and consolidated as Interstate 10S during 1968.   The original Interstate 110 can be seen as the blog cover photo as it was featured on the 1964 Division of Highways Map.  Below the entire 0.65-mile length of Interstate

Vicksburg Bridge (Vicksburg, MS)

  Located a few hundred feet downriver from the Old Vicksburg Bridge, the Vicksburg Bridge, or the “New” Bridge, serves as the city’s vehicular crossing of the Mississippi River on the main highway connecting Vicksburg with northeastern Louisiana to the west and the state capital of Jackson to the east. The completion of the original Vicksburg Bridge in 1930 was seen as a huge success and the bridge proved to be a profitable entity for both road and railroad interests along the path of the Dixie Overland Highway and the subsequent US Highway 80 corridor. In the years after the creation of the National Interstate Highway System, planning commenced on a new bridge at the site that would relieve the congestion on the existing bridge while providing for a more modern crossing of the river that would be safe for all vehicles. The construction of the new bridge at Vicksburg was completed in 1973 and its design intentionally mimics that of its predecessor nearby. This was due in large part