Busy ramp to Route 28 closed for 2 months for scheduled reconstruction work

A busy ramp to Route 28 will be closed for two months as part of scheduled reconstruction work.

That northbound ramp from the Highland Park Bridge to Route 28 South will remain closed through mid-May.

It’s the latest phase of PennDOT’s $48 million project to alleviate traffic near the Highland Park Bridge, but it also means that drivers in the area will have to find another way onto Route 28 for the next two months.

“We’ll have to get up a lot earlier,” said Dean Lewis of Penn Hills. “We’ll have to come around the longer way…takes a little bit more time.”

A rendering from PennDOT (pictured below) shows the addition of a lane through the interchange, something engineers said will make the road safer and more efficient.

“There’s a lot of accidents in that location because people are trying to merge at the last minute because they were getting forced to exit, so that’s the primary focus of the project,” said Jason Zang, acting district executive for PennDOT’s District 11.

The plan includes reconstructing ramps, repaving, and widening parts of the bridges as well, but engineers also wanted to add an aesthetic touch, teaming up with artist Brian Peters to create a series of sound barrier walls. They are required by law but made with a Steel City touch.

“We’re going to build all of these walls, we’re going to try to make them look nice, make them look interesting, something that has a tribute to Pittsburgh, the neighborhoods that [Route] 28 is going through. We’re just trying to enhance the experience of people driving through there,” Zang said.

Up next: three more ramp closures in the coming months with the project set to be complete by the end of the year.

Posted Detours from PennDOT:

Northbound Highland Park Bridge to Southbound Route 28

• Take Route 8 (Butler Street/Washington Boulevard) northbound
• Turn right onto the 62nd Street Bridge
• Take the ramp to Route 28 via Sharpsburg
• Continue straight on Bridge Street
• Turn left onto the ramp to southbound Route 28
• End detour

Freeport Road to Southbound Route 28

• From Freeport Road at the Highland Park Bridge, take the ramp to northbound Route 28
• Take the Fox Chapel Road/Waterworks Drive/Freeport Road (Exit 8) off-ramp
• On the ramp, bear left toward Fox Chapel Road
• Turn left onto Fox Chapel Road
• Turn left onto the ramp to southbound Route 28
• Follow southbound Route 28 back to the Virginia Avenue Extension ramp
• End detour

Alternate Route

Freeport Road to Southbound Route 28

• From the Highland Park Bridge, continue southbound on Freeport Road through Sharpsburg
• Freeport Road becomes Main Street
• Take the ramp to southbound Route 28
• End detour

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