The winter is over, says PennDot. Starting on Thursday, March 15, PennDot will begin construction on 376 E, or the Parkway East, between Oakland and Swissvale. The work should last through September, and subsequently, PennDot will be rerouting one of the busiest and congested roads in Western Pennsylvania onto city streets. As you can imagine, an increase in rush hour commuters and gridlock will make for a less than pleasant cycling commute on many of these popular routes. Annoyed rush hour commuters are not particularly known for their “share the road” sensibility, so we thought we’d examine the changes and help you get around town to avoid them and the crunch.

After each PennDot recommendation are some links to “Bikely” routes that we found to help you through the mess and keep you smiling as you whizz past the traffic this summer. Bikely is a worldwide online bike mapping resource and community.

All of the quotes were taken from a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

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The department (PennDot) recommends westbound (inbound) travelers exit the Parkway at or before the Wilkinsburg interchange and follow Route 8 (Penn Avenue) through Wilkinsburg and Point Breeze to Fifth Avenue. Then follow Fifth Avenue into Downtown.

Ouch! This is a heavily traveled cycling route that is already unpleasant to ride. We recommend that you avoid these roads anyway, but if you haven’t figured out some lower-traffic side routes, now is the time to do so.

Alternate Cycling Routes:

Wilkinsburg to Downtown via Oakland and Shadyside
Wilkinsburg to Downtown via East Liberty and Strip District
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Motorists traveling from between Forest Hills and Swissvale should take Braddock Avenue to Penn Avenue. Then ride Fifth Avenue to Downtown, to Ross Street to First Street and Grant Street to pick up the Parkway westbound again.

OOOO! Braddock is already a commuting nightmare. And more traffic on Fifth and Penn! There is no better time than to avoid these roads altogether. A good alternate to Braddock Ave is just one block away on East End Ave.

Alternate Cycling Routes:
Edgewood Town Square to Southside Works
Southside to Swissvale
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From the Squirrel Hill interchange, westbound travelers should take Forward Avenue to Murray Avenue to Braddock Avenue to Penn to Fifth, to Ross to First and Grant to the Parkway West on-ramp.

EGADS! More cars in Squirrel Hill? If you haven’t started cycling, now is the time to start.

Alternate Cycling Routes:
Squirrel Hill to Downtown via Eliza Furnace Trail
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Good Luck, and most importantly, HAVE FUN!