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Allegheny County's Red Belt - Not Much To It

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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.

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