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A Little Bit of Everything - Allegheny County's Blue Belt

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Of the five colored belt routes within Allegheny County, the Blue Belt runs the closest to Downtown Pittsburgh.  Like the Yellow Belt, it is a full loop.  However, the Blue Belt is the only one that enters Pittsburgh's City Limits.  The Blue Belt connects many inner-ring suburbs and city neighborhoods.  It is the most urban and dense of the five belt routes, but the route does have its share of green. Finally, there are plenty of surprises throughout the drive.

To see the entire photo set on flickr, head here.

The Route:

West 8th Avenue (PA 837) in Homestead.  The Blue Belt turns left here to cross the Monongahela River via the Homestead Grays Bridge.

We'll start our journey where PA 885 meets PA 837 at the Glenwood Bridge in Hays.  We'll take PA 837 South, headed towards Homestead.  The Blue Belt enters the former heart of the steel industry before turning left to cross the Monongahela via the Homestead Grays (High-Level) Bridge.  After crossing the river, the Blue Belt enters the City of Pittsburgh and the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.  

Much of the Blue Belt runs through older established Pittsburgh neighborhoods and suburbs like Squirrel Hill.


Here, the Blue Belt travels through one of Pittsburgh's more established areas.  Running along Shady and Fifth Avenues, the Blue Belt passes through dense older urban neighborhoods that, on a very nice spring afternoon, were filled with pedestrians, families, and tourists.

The stone arch bridges carrying the Brilliant Cutoff Rail Viaduct (higher and right) and Lincoln Avenue (lower and left) are impressive landmarks.

The Blue Belt then turns onto Washington Boulevard (PA 8) through a ravine leading to the Allegheny River.  Along the way, the Blue Belt opens into a view of the Brilliant Cutoff Viaduct and the Lincoln Avenue Bridge.  Both stone arch bridges date to the start of the 20th century and show that some of Pittsburgh's best bridges don't cross rivers.

Passing the entrance to the Pittsburgh Zoo, the Blue Belt meets the Green Belt at the Allegheny River before the two routes cross together on the Highland Park Bridge.  Once on the North Shore of the River, the Blue Belt splits south on the PA 28 Freeway towards the city.  It leaves Route 28 at the Millvale exit (Exit 3B), but not after a confusing series of signs that could have you take the wrong exit (PA 8 North - Exit 5) or miss the right turn onto Evergreen Avenue.  I did both; however, I did refamiliarize myself with Millvale as a result.

A sharp right onto Bascom Avenue from Perrysville Avenue here will keep you on the Blue Belt.  (The turn was not marked.)

The Blue Belt runs up the ravine from Millvale along Evergreen Avenue and Peoples Road.  This stretch of the Blue Belt through the North Hills has the more familiar suburban feel that its companion belts share.  It is when the Blue Belt re-enters the Pittsburgh City Limits around Perrysville that the drive gets interesting.

I did not expect this more secondary, and narrow, stretch of the Blue Belt on Benton Avenue.

Homes in Brighton Heights.

One of a few brick-paved stretches of the Blue Belt, approaching the McKees Rocks Bridge.

The Blue Belt takes on a mix of working-class city neighborhoods, missing signage, surprisingly forested city streets, and the occasional brick road as it winds down from Perrysville Avenue (US 19) to the Ohio River and McKees Rocks Bridge.  Following Bascom and Benton Avenues into the Brighton Heights neighborhood, the Blue Belt offers a slice of Pittsburgh rarely found by most travelers.  

The Blue Belt crosses the Ohio River via the McKees Rocks Bridge.

Coming down the hillside along the brick-paved Brighton Heights Boulevard, the Blue Belt crosses the McKees Rocks Bridge into the community that the lengthy, nearly 100-year-old bridge is named after.  Here, the Blue Belt winds its way through McKees Rocks, Ingram, and Crafton, continuing the mix of older industrial communities and older city suburbs.  Additional brick streets are found in Crafton as the Blue Belt splits into one-way couplets (Noble and Union Avenues).

The Blue Belt through McKees Rocks, and below, another brief stretch of brick roadway in Crafton.


After crossing the Parkway in Green Tree, the Blue Belt enters the suburban South Hills.  A mix of city neighborhoods, including Banksville and Beechview, and bedroom boroughs like Dormont.  The density returns through these neighborhoods, as does the occasional crossing of a Pittsburgh Regional Transit Light Rail train.

The Blue Belt along PA 121 in suburban Green Tree.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit's Red Line crosses the Blue Belt after leaving Potomac Station.

Leaving Dormont via McNeilly Avenue, the Blue Belt passes older shopping centers as it reaches the Saw Mill Run area and the city's Overbrook neighborhood.  A quick left onto Route 51, followed by a quick right onto Maytide Street, keeps you on the Blue Belt as you skirt the edges of Overbrook, Carrick, and Brentwood.  

Becks Run Road (Blue Belt) approaching PA 837.

After crossing Brownsville Road, the Blue Belt takes on Becks Run Road, following the Becks Run ravine down to East Carson Street and the Monongahela River.  Here, under the rail trestle, is one of Pittsburgh's sweetest places, Page's Dairy.  The date-night, post-ballgame team outing, family ice cream spot has been around for 75 years.  Often, the line wraps around the building and into the parking lot.  It's a great way to finish your Blue Belt adventure.

Can't go wrong with a stop at Page's.

From Page's, a right turn onto PA 837 keeps you on the Blue Belt.  About two miles later, at PA 885 and the Glenwood Bridge, the Blue Belt completes its full loop around the city.

Conclusion:

By far, the Blue Belt was the most enjoyable of the five routes.  It, like the Yellow Belt, had a little bit of everything.  However, there's more variety along the Blue Belt within the city neighborhoods and small communities.  Being closer to the city has a lot to do with it.

The Blue Belt takes a right turn here onto Potomac Avenue in Dormont.  But drivers wouldn't know it as the arrow has been missing for years.

As always, the same issues of confusing and missing signage plagued the route.  Arrows sometimes were missing, or signs for upcoming turns were nowhere to be found.  The missing signage really shows how much of an afterthought the Belt System really is.

The Blue Belt is a great alternative for those in various parts of Allegheny County to get to the Pittsburgh Zoo.  The drive through the North Hills, through Brighton Heights, down to the Ohio River was very surprising.  It took me through parts of the city I had never been through.  So was the route through Ingram and Crafton.  That is what I enjoyed the most about the Blue Belt - the variety and being able to see Pittsburgh neighborhoods throughout.  

While I am skeptical of the modern need for the Allegheny County Belt System, it did accomplish a few things for me.  One, it got me out to explore.  Two, I saw many parts of the Pittsburgh area I had not seen in a long time or wasn't familiar with - if I had even been to that part of the city at all.  Maybe, in the end, that's the charm of the Belt Routes.  You find yourself curious about it - what is it - where does it go?  And if the urge is enough, you go and explore it and see a few new places and things.

All photos taken by the post author - April 11, 2026.

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