PITTSBURGH — The main detour from the Parkway East closure is bringing tens of thousands of people through Pittsburgh neighborhoods, including Regent Square.
“We got the people who live here who are trapped,” Tristan Palazzolo told Channel 11.
Palazzolo is the general manager of El Burro in Regent Square and he’s hoping that people in the neighborhood go to his restaurant for dinner because of the gridlock on South Braddock Avenue.
“I’d say the first night, Saturday, from what I could tell, people were not coming out. Probably because they were worried about the traffic and whatnot,” he added.
People who live and work in Regent Square tell Channel 11 traffic was bumper-to-bumper for most of the day. It’s been a cut-through for drivers to avoid the detour from the Commercial Street Bridge closure.
Today at a news conference, PennDOT district executive Jason Zang told us he’s aware of the issue.
“It’s really difficult to control where the general public decides to steer their vehicles. So, short of closing the neighborhood down, we are just going to have to continue to watch that and remind people not to drive through those neighborhoods,” Zang said.
He’s predicting things will improve.
“I do think that it should get better. If they’re not saving any time going through there, they might decide that’s not really worth it and do something different or completely alter their detour,” he added.
Officials say the project is on schedule, and they plan to demolish the old bridge by the end of the week.
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