PITTSBURGH — Drivers spent a second day adjusting to life without part of the Parkway East, using the weekend to figure out which detour will work best before the Monday morning commute.
Traffic flowed along the posted outbound Interstate Detour Sunday, which takes drivers from Fifth Avenue to Route 8, also known as Penn Avenue, before reconnecting with Interstate 376 toward Monroeville.
For many who live along those routes, the increase in traffic has been hard to miss.
“It was almost like someone flipped a switch and the traffic changed,” said Jamison Combs, who lives in Squirrel Hill.
Combs said the neighborhood quickly became louder as more drivers made their way through the area.
“We immediately started hearing horns blaring, people yelling, you know, yinzer this, yinzer that and calling each other jagoffs,” Combs said.
He also experienced the delays firsthand.
“It literally took close to three hours to get back from Costco back to Squirrel Hill,” he said.
While traffic was slightly heavier than normal on Sunday, some neighbors said they’re treating the weekend as a trial run before weekday traffic returns.
“It’s probably trial and error for most people come Monday,” said Patrick Polk of Highland Park. “But I can imagine cities and neighborhoods will be congested and dangerous, maybe for kids.”
Many drivers told Channel 11 they plan to leave earlier than usual this week to account for longer travel times.
Residents are also asking drivers to be patient and mindful of the neighborhoods now seeing significantly more traffic, including Oakland, Shadyside and Wilkinsburg.
“I did notice on Forbes Avenue and Shady, there’s cars backed up kind of far, and I do notice people running the light,” said Squirrel Hill resident Jeff Moreci.
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