Category: News || By Submitted Reports

(Editor's Note: PennDOT announced June 10 that the full closure of the Boston Bridge has been delayed until June 27. The full announcement follows this story.)

The long-awaited (some say "dreaded") detours around the Boston Bridge began in earnest this week.

Night and weekend closures are already underway, and the big shutdown is scheduled for June 27, when the bridge will be entirely closed through Sept. 20.

Built in 1931, the span connecting Versailles with the Boston section of the Elizabeth Township was rated "structurally deficient" and is receiving a $17.3 million rehabilitation that includes replacing the concrete-filled steel-grid road surface; replacing the sidewalks, bearings and expansion joints; reinforcing the support beams; repairs to the bridge piers and abutments; and repainting the entire structure.

The 1,182 foot-long Boston Bridge carries state Route 48 over the Youghiogheny River, CSX Railroad, and the Great Allegheny Passage hiking-biking trail, and serves as a connection between the GAP and the McKeesport-Versailles LOOP trail. Under normal circumstances, about 17,000 vehicles use the bridge daily, according to state Department of Transportation statistics.

General contractor on the project is Pittsburgh-based Trumbull Corporation.

PennDOT has advised residents to consider alternate routes. The official detour for passenger vehicles includes Boston Hollow Road, Finney Road, Liberty Way, Washington Boulevard, the Jerome Avenue Bridge, Lysle Boulevard and Walnut Street. The official detour for trucks requires a more circuitous route that includes Route 51 to Route 837, the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge, Lysle Boulevard and Walnut Street.

. . .

Other construction projects that have the potential to bottle up local traffic this spring and summer --- at least temporarily --- include:

• Lysle Boulevard: Lysle Boulevard restrictions are underway as crews complete a flyover ramp into the RIDC industrial park.


• Clairton-Glassport Bridge: Closed June 17-20. A $4 million PennDOT project is underway to replace expansion joints and safety barriers, and perform general maintenance, including painting and patching. General contractor is J.F. Shea Construction of Mt. Pleasant.


• East Fifth Avenue (Route 148): Single-lane traffic through mid-July on portions of the road between Hartman Street and Route 30. A $2.6 million project will include repaving, new signals, new guide rails and improved drainage. General contractor is Derry Construction of Westmoreland County.


• Broadlawn Drive, Elizabeth Township: Closed through July 15 at Greenock-Buena Vista Road as crews replace a bridge, according to Kevin Evanto, Allegheny County spokesman.

View June 2011 Construction Projects in a larger map

News Release: Route 48 Boston Bridge Long-Term Closure Postponed to June 27

From: James Struzzi, PennDOT District 11 Press Office
Date: 6/10/2011

PennDOT District 11 is announcing the long-term closure of the Route 48 Boston Bridge in the Borough of Versailles and Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County, has been tentatively rescheduled to start on June 27.

The closure start date has been moved due to longer timeframes needed for the necessary bridge materials to be procured.

In addition, the overnight closure planned for Monday, June 13, has been canceled. The next overnight closure is scheduled for Tuesday night, June 14. PennDOT and the project contractor, the Trumbull Corporation of Pittsburgh, have been working hard to complete the necessary work without needing to implement the overnight closures.

Below is a revised closure schedule. Weekend and nightly closures are as needed and weather permitting.

• June 14-16 (Weeknights)
  Full closure in both directions from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday nights


• June 17-20 (Weekend)
  Full closure in both directions from 7 p.m. on Friday, June 17, continuously through 5 a.m. on Monday, June 20.


• June 24-27 (Weekend)
  Full closure in both directions from 7 p.m. on Friday, June 24, continuously through 5 a.m. on Monday, June 27.


• June 27-Sept. 20 (Long-term closure)
  The weekend closure will lead into the long-term full closure of the Boston Bridge. The bridge will be closed from 5 a.m. on Monday, June 27, continuously through Sept. 20.

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