Target 11: Pittsburgh's Most Dangerous Roads

PITTSBURGH,None — Target 11 investigator Rick Earle received a copy of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's high-crash roadways and discovered that one of the most dangerous roads in the area had 163 accidents in a five-year period.

According to PennDOT, Frankstown Road in Homewood is considered a high-crash roadway. PennDOT officials said the only other road with more crashes in the same amount of time was Penn Avenue in Point Breeze with 196 crashes.

Other roads that made PennDOT's list was Route 22 with 157 crashes, Saw Mill Run Boulevard in Pittsburgh's Overbrook neighborhood with 105 crashes, Ohio River Boulevard near the McKees Rocks Bridge with 100 crashes and the Liberty Bridge and tunnel with 91 crashes.

Officials said while Penn Avenue may have had the most crashes, it didn't top the list of the most dangerous. That distinction went to Constitution Boulevard in Beaver County. Officials said the roadway had 37 crashes in a five-year period with five deaths, ranking as the 13th most dangerous road in the state.

"We want to find out why that certain location has risen to the top of the list and now it's a concern from a crash standpoint. So we look at ways to remedy the crashes," said PennDOT traffic engineer Todd Kravits. "We see what kinds of trends there are. What are the causal factors for those accidents, and then we come up with a set of counter measures that are designed to specifically address those crashes on the specific roadway."

In PennDOT's last dangerous roads report, Freeport Road in Natrona Heights topped the list. Kravits said since then engineers made several changes, including the installation of traffic lanes, to make it safer.

"We have some intersections that are under investigating right now. We're doing some studies. Other ones, we're looking at what types of improvements we can make in rather quick fashion," Kravits said.

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