Officials seeking solution to trucks getting stuck on Stanwix Street ramp to Parkway East

Officials from PennDOT and the City of Pittsburgh are looking for solutions as trucks have been getting stuck on the Stanwix Street ramp to the Parkway East for years.

Perhaps you got stuck in the mess last week when rush hour traffic was snarled by a tractor-trailer that got stuck on the concrete barrier at the intersection of Stanwix Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard.

It was far from the first time this happened. It's been happening for years, so what can be done about it? 

PennDOT and the City of Pittsburgh are not oblivious to the issue, which is why they've recently added signage to the area -- signage that couldn't be more specific.

The Stanwix Street barrier onto the eastbound lanes of the Parkway East is scarred with the misadventures of a number of drivers over time. 

"It seems like it happens every couple of weeks or every couple of months, at least," said Jan Raether, Infrastructure Engagement Specialist with Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.

"We had been noticing a pattern over the past few years of trucks getting stuck," said PennDOT District 11 Traffic Engineer Stephanie Zolnak. 

None of the incidents were medically substantial, but to the morning rush hour on Route 65, Route 28, and the Parkway North, they are consistently catastrophic. 

"It does cause some hang-ups with traffic," Raether said. 

So PennDOT studied the geometry of the turn.

"We ran the turning templates to see that truck drivers cannot make that successfully with anything over 45 feet in length," Zolnak said. 

At PennDOT's recommendation, the city up signs late last year to try and alleviate the issue.

"You're dependent on the truck drivers seeing the signs and obeying them," Zolnak said. "It is a challenge, but we do our best, and we're always trying to come up with new solutions to help convey that to motorists."

"We see in this case that there could be some need for additional signage," Raether said.

There is a marked truck route, that if followed, will bring truck drivers to the Grant Street on-ramp to the eastbound lanes of the Parkway East.

"That ramp has wider access for even the longer trucks, so that's ideally where we want trucks to be going to get onto 376," Raether said.

The city says it is reviewing the signage, while PennDOT says they have to see if the signage is in effect over time -- time that will also spread word among the trucking world that if you try that turn and get caught on the barrier, or get caught by police, you'll be paying for it, starting with a $150 fine.