PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Governor Tom Corbett yesterday joined PennDOT officials and state and local leaders to mark the complete reopening of Route 28 in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County.
The five-phase modernization and safety enhancement project spanned six years and represents a $180.9 million investment in the region’s mobility.
“By improving safety and mobility in the region, this project shows how important transportation is to our quality of life,” Gov. Corbett said. “The transportation plan we accomplished last year will ensure that major, much-needed improvements such as this will continue across the state in the future.”
The ramp from Interstate 579 to Route 28 reopened yesterday afternoon. Northbound traffic was restored to two lanes last night.
The Route 28 improvements provide a free-flowing connection without traffic signals between Pittsburgh and Kittanning through the Allegheny Valley.
“Safe travel on our 40,000 roadway miles requires continued investments in our transportation system,” PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch said. “I commend the efforts of the people who made this happen as well as the public for their patience as we worked to make this road a better travel experience for them.”
PennDOT’s district executive for the Pittsburgh region, H. Daniel Cessna, noted that the project will reduce delays entering and exiting the city.
“The Route 28 East Ohio Street Project has created a total transformation of the northeast transportation link into Pittsburgh, providing a major enhancement to our regional transportation system,” Cessna said. “It has been an honor and a genuine engineering challenge to develop and deliver this project and we are so excited to turn the highway back to the community and hope they enjoy these changes and the completion of construction.”
The six-year project was comprised of five improvement phases:
– Alternate route and Intelligent Transportation Systems upgrades that were completed on October 29, 2010, cost $2.2 million and included upgrades to three intersections as well as improvements to roads that were used as alternate routes during later project phases.
– Relocating two Norfolk Southern railroad tracks toward the Allegheny River to allow space for the Route 28 work cost $22.2 million and was completed on May 10, 2012.
– Widening and reconstruction of 1.04 miles of Route 28 from approximately ¼ of mile north of the 31st Street Bridge to approximately ½ mile north of the 40th Street Bridge was completed on June 28, 2012, for $26 million.
– A new grade-separated interchange at the 31st Street Bridge intersection, modifications to the River Avenue Viaduct and other improvements were completed on Sept. 12, 2014, for $40 million.
– An ongoing $16 million project in the southern limits of the highway to widen and reconstruct the road, install retaining walls and make other upgrades is expected to finish by May 15, 2015.
Minor work with limited impact to motorists, including tree and shrub planting, pavement markings and light pole installation, will continue through May 2015.
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 700 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.
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