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Mifflin Road sewer line project

From this tweet
Schedule change: The 140 day outbound Route 885 closure in Pittsburgh will begin Wed, Jan 21 @ 7 am. http://t.co/XzuKh6zaN0— 511PA Pittsburgh (@511PAPittsburgh) January 15, 2015
looks like a big chunk of 885 will be out of commission for most of five months. What does this mean for cycling in this part of town? If you live in the north end of that project, does this make it any easier to get to the GAP trail? I don't know this area very well at all, so am hoping those who do can chime in to discuss the details.
stuinmccandless
2015-01-15 09:20:53
For the link-disabled, here is the full text of the page the tweet links to: News for Immediate Release 01/13/2015 Route 885 Mifflin Road Sewer Line Relocation Work begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA PennDOT District 11 is announcing sewer line relocation work on Route 885 (Mifflin Road) in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, will begin Wednesday, Jan. 21, weather permitting. Beginning at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21, southbound (outbound) Route 885 will be closed to traffic around-the-clock for 140 consecutive days between Doerrville Avenue and Lebanon Road. Separate detours for cars and trucks will be implemented. Posted Car Detour • From outbound (southbound) Route 885 take the Streets Run Road Exit • At the stop sign at the end of the ramp, bear right onto Baldwin Road • Baldwin Road becomes Streets Run Road • Turn left onto Delwar Road • Follow Delwar Road to Lebanon Church Road • Turn left onto Lebanon Church Road and follow to Lebanon Road • End detour Posted Heavy Truck Detour • From outbound (southbound) Route 885, take the exit to Route 837 Glass Run Road/Carson Street/Homestead • At the stop sign at the end of the ramp, turn left onto Glass Run Road • Turn left at the traffic signal onto northbound Route 885 • Take the ramp towards North 837/Carson Street • Follow East Carson Street to the West End Circle • Turn left at the light towards South 19/51 to West 376 Airport • Follow Route 51 southbound • Take the ramp to Route 885 towards McKeesport/West Mifflin • Follow Route 885 (Lebanon Church Road) to Lebanon Road • End detour Inbound (northbound) Route 885 through the work zone will remain a single lane. The sewer line relocation is part of the $11.18 Glenwood Interchange Phase 2 project. The overall project includes the replacement of four culverts, utility relocation, traffic signal upgrades and the resurfacing of Route 885 (Mifflin Road) between Lebanon Road and Doerville Street. Golden Triangle Construction is the prime contractor. To help keep motorists informed as work on the Glenwood Interchange Phase II project continues PennDOT is creating an email distribution list for Route 885 traffic advisories and construction updates. Enroll by sending email addresses to stcowan@pa.gov and writing “Subscribe – Route 885” in the subject line. Motorists are advised to use caution, allow extra time, and expect changing traffic patterns when traveling through the area. Media contact: Steve Cowan, Press Officer, (412) 429-5010 (Office), (412) 334-5436 (Cell Phone) Source: Engineering District 11 45 Thoms Run Road Bridgeville PA 15017 # # #
stuinmccandless
2015-01-15 09:21:56
I think this is a piece of Pierce's daily route. The ongoing work on 885 along with the work at 88/51 has already increased the car traffic significantly on Brownsville road & Streets run road. I don't know if it really affects cyclists much, other then the need to "filter" more than usual. I have noticed that the motorists are even more grumpy than usual (if that's possible).
marko82
2015-01-15 09:55:09
Grrr... It is indeed on my daily commute. Luckily I only commute to that location twice a week. If they wanted to keep motorists informed, they could start by putting up signage. Unless I missed it, as of today, there's nothing indicating the road will be closed in six days for four months. They've already been screwing around on that stretch of road for at least a month, probably longer, but I don't remember. The road is already a PITA, with patches over patches over patches each time they cut up the road to do something. Perhaps I'll be able to skit around by the open road side. There used to be kind of sidewalks on the inbound side. Detour should be interesting. I think Streets Run Rd already has a decent amount of traffic with just two lanes, and 885 is fairly busy with four.
sgtjonson
2015-01-15 15:51:49
This route to work almost has be at the tipping point of considering another way... First I have to deal with the PITA section of the gap which isn't maintained and now I have to walk precariously along a couple of blocks where this 885 work is happening. There are sidewalks the entire length of this road work, but of course apparently PennDOT didn't consider people might actually use them (even though a school is in that several block vicinity) and has apparently made no contingencies for pedestrians, yet there are no "no pedestrians" signs as of yet. They've got utility trucks parked over the sidewalks, which essentially means I have to walk against traffic for about a block. Totally sucks and shouldn't be necessary if PennDOT had an iota of planning for multimodal transportation on their roads, or even, as it is now, in front of people's houses.
sgtjonson
2015-01-28 14:33:22
Please take pictures. As I discovered today on the 311 thread, one good way to get a photo on here is to tweet it, then post a link to the tweet. Maybe a link to Google+ would work just as well; I haven't tried.
stuinmccandless
2015-01-28 15:47:25
Pierce, try to get the name of the contractor doing the work too. A few emails directly to the company wouldnt hurt, especially if it can be tied to safety/liability. I did that on a project on Becks Run a few years ago and saw almost immediate corrective action.
marko82
2015-01-28 16:10:40
Somehow, the contractor that worked on the last piece of the 31st Street Bridge, connecting the bridge to PA28, managed to keep the trail open every day, despite the trail being smack-dab in the middle of the work area. Occasionally we cyclists would have to pause for two minutes while they rotated a crane or moved a truck, and almost always we had to squeeze alongside some piece of equipment, but it was open, and nobody ever got hurt AFAIK.
stuinmccandless
2015-01-28 17:26:44
Took the alternate route today, which isn't bad... I go down the hill a little bit from my house to take me to the Westinghouse Bridge, cross that and end up down by Primantis on Bowman Rd, which takes me through North Versailles and into McKeesport, then over the Mansfield Bridge by Dravosburg, then down 837 (which at parts has a 55mph speed limit) and then up a hill towards Jefferson Hospital/CCAC If the roads were at anywhere close to capacity, it would suck, but much of it is four lane roads that seem really sparely populated with cars. Makes me wonder again why we need another expressway in that area when the four lane roads already there are seemingly empty. (Granted, I was riding around 10/11am, but still)
sgtjonson
2015-01-29 13:02:07
Better late than never? District 5 CM Corey O'Connor posted a 'Mifflin Road construction plan' today: http://pittsburghpa.gov/district5/Mifflin-Road-Construction Highlights: - in addition to the sewer reconstruction work that began last month, parts of five culverts will be replaced, mostly during a nearly three-week complete closure of the road, likely at mid-summer, and some weekend closures in July. - All in all, everything should be completed by December 2015.
epanastrophe
2015-02-26 17:01:18
Eventually PennDOT and utilities are going to run out of reasons to tear that road up... I commuted on it the last five years and it seems like parts of it have been under construction the entire time
sgtjonson
2015-02-26 17:05:48