PennDOT proposes safety upgrades to alleviate Parkway East congestion
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - PennDOT is looking at alleviating the congestion on a stretch of the Parkway by adding safety upgrades that will ultimately improve the flow of traffic.
Bill Duncan travels the Parkway to and from work every day. On a good day, he says he may breeze down the Parkway East but on a bad day, it can tack on upwards of an extra hour each way.
"I don't like it but I have to do it," Duncan said.
And he isn't alone. KDKA caught up with several drivers who share his woes. One woman even changed her zip code.
"It's a huge pain. It actually prevented my partner and I from living in this area because of the traffic," said Amber Croce from Ben Avon.
PennDOT is working to secure $45 million for an active traffic management system. This will target the Parkway East inbound and outbound from Grant Street downtown all the way to Monroeville.
It's not possible to widen the highway due to the tunnels and bridges, so PennDOT is doing the next best thing.
"A lot of these strategies that we are using are going to be more safety-related to reduce crashes, particularly the rear-end crashes. But as we do that and we reduce incidents on the Parkway, that helps lower congestion levels as well," said PennDOT engineer Todd Kravits.
The plan consists of adding message boards to alert drivers of accidents ahead and overhead signage warning of a lane closure with a red X and a green arrow to keep moving. Gates will come down to keep drivers from getting caught in traffic if there's a crash and variable speed limits will keep the speed at a reasonable pace and reduce rear-end collisions.
"They'll be white and black and look just like your normal ones. But during the course of the day, the speed limit may change from 55 to 50 or 45, and those would be enforceable speed limits," Kravits said.
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will vote on this proposal on June 26. If it passes, PennDOT will start construction at the end of 2024, early 2025.