Pittsburgh's traffic patterns returning to normal now that the NFL draft has ended
Traffic patterns in Pittsburgh are starting to return to normal with the NFL draft now in the rearview mirror.
The draft may be over, but getting Pittsburgh back to normal may take a bit of time. Nowhere is that more evident than with the roads that remain closed.
The roads around the city are reopening in the opposite order that they were shut down and some closures could be around for another week.
Many were wondering why so many key roads had to close for the draft, and the basic answer is safety.
"We had interstates running right through the footprint," said Lori Musto, Assistant District Executive with PennDOT. "So we had to work with those agencies and come up with the best plan for the safety of everybody involved."
As soon as the draft stage on Pittsburgh's North Shore fell silent on Saturday night, PennDOT wasted no time starting to get things open again, like the ramp from Fort Duquesne Boulevard and the 10th Street Bypass towards the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Parkway West.
"We got that open pretty quick," Musto said, adding that it was fully reopened by around 10 p.m. Saturday, along with the ramps connecting the Fort Duquesne Bridge and Route 65.
The ramp the North Side from the inbound Parkway North remains closed, along with the ramp from the Fort Duquesne Bridge to the North Shore behind Acrisure Stadium.
"That's just to give the NFL crews time to demobilize everything they have set up," Musto said.
On the North Shore, General Robinson Street has already reopened from Tony Dorsett Drive to Federal Street and North Shore Drive is open from Chuck Noll Way to Mazeroski Way. Both the Warhol and Clemente bridges have reopened, too.
Penn Avenue and Liberty Avenue in the Golden Triangle have reopened, but the Liberty Avenue ramp to the Fort Pitt Bridge is still restricted to a single lane.
Musto said that the use of public transportation allowed for all of the plans to work.
"It was extremely critical for us," Musto said. "That was our whole plan, based on utilizing public transportation."
Musto said that when the public heeds the warnings, things tend to fall in place.
The streets surrounding Acrisure Stadium are still closed and will be for perhaps the rest of the week, but Musto said they're trying to make arrangements to help Pirates fans with the team back in town this week.
