Pittsburgh issues construction moratorium to help alleviate NFL draft traffic

Springtime is usually when construction season starts to come into bloom, but with the NFL draft coming to Pittsburgh, a construction moratorium will be in place. 

The moratorium is meant to make sure that traffic flows smoothly with the draft, and it's not more complicated for the hundreds of thousands of visitors to get around.  

This moratorium will blanket the North Shore and Downtown. After that, it will cover key routes like Penn Avenue, Butler Street, Carson Street and the roads that help get people in and out of town, "without having to go through any onerous detours or anything like that," explained Jan Raether, Pittsburgh's infrastructure engagement manager.

According to the city's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, the moratorium started on March 15 and will run until May 15. Certain projects will have waivers and still be worked on. Some work will try to limit road closures to partial if possible. 

"We don't want to hold anything up," Raether said. "We're not trying to stand in the way of people that are trying to get their projects done."

This doesn't mean that all construction will stop in the city. Other projects will continue as needed.

"As you get further from town, it's really just those main streets," Raether said. "If somebody is doing work on a side street, we are going to let that happen."

If there are any emergencies, no matter where in the city, DOMI said they will be addressed.

"If a sewer line breaks or a water main breaks, we are going to work with the utilities to make sure they are able to do that," Raether said.

PennDOT says it will suspend construction work that requires lane restrictions except for projects already in long-term work. It will go from the Wednesday of draft week through that weekend.