Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonboy1983
...I looked at a recent street view of that part of the Parkway. That piece of land is mostly level, so I don't see how you couldn't put 8 lanes of one-way traffic through there (6 tolled, bound for the Ft. Pitt Tunnel, and 2 untolled, bound for Route 51 North/South). Grade and bulldoze the land and put up a retaining wall. Again, it's only a suggestion...
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One obstacle that'd have to be rectified in order to expand capacity on the Parkway West is the railroad bridge between Carnegie and Green Tree. The right of way for an eight-lane Interstate-grade highway is 146' wide, but the space under the railroad bridge that the Parkway West fits under is not that wide, and an adjacent space is even narrower. The railroad bridge would have to be rebuilt to accommodate an eight-lane Interstate under it.
Aside from that, you're correct; there is enough room for eight lanes between I-79 and PA 51. Ultimately, though it'd more than likely take a long time and have to be done incrementally, I'd like to see the following 10-step process happen:
1. Rebuild the railroad bridge between Carnegie and Green Tree with enough room for an eight-lane Interstate right of way under it.
2. Reconfigure the U.S. 22/U.S. 30 interchange to a "stack," the Green Tree/Mt. Lebanon interchange to a "SPUI," and the U.S. 19/PA 51 interchange to a modified "directional T."
3. Improve the ramp geometry at the Montour Run, Robinson Town Centre, Campbell's Run Road, Rosslyn Farms, Carnegie and Banksville Road interchanges.
4. Expand the Fort Pitt Tunnel to three lanes in each portal, and drop one lane off the ramps to and from Carson Street at the south/west end of the Fort Pitt Bridge to make room for the third lane to and from the tunnels.
5. Widen the Parkway West to six lanes between Pittsburgh International Airport and I-79, eight lanes between I-79 and PA 51, and six lanes between PA 51 and the Fort Pitt Bridge.
6. Reconfigure the Edgewood/Swissvale, Forest Hills/Wilkinsburg, Churchill and Monroeville/Plum interchanges to "SPUIs," and the Squirrel Hill/Homestead interchange into something that gets rid of that stupid eastbound on-ramp.
7. Improve the ramp geometry at the Penn Hills interchange.
8. Eliminate the Greensburg Pike interchange and the westbound "loop" off-ramp at Bates Street.
9. Expand the Squirrel Hill Tunnel to three lanes in each portal.
10. Widen the Parkway East to six lanes between the Boulevard of the Allies interchange and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
I know that money doesn't grow on trees, which is why I favor taking an incremental approach. I think a plan like this is more necessary than building another beltway around Houston or some other "Sun Belt" metropolitan area, especially since more emphasis should be placed on upgrading existing infrastructure than building new infrastructure. The only area that's absolutely impossible to upgrade is the "Parkway Central" between the Fort Pitt Bridge and the Boulevard of the Allies. At least traffic volumes on that segment are somewhat lower, so four lanes will suffice.
As for the toll roads south of the city, I oppose extending the Mon-Fayette Expressway into the city of Pittsburgh, but I support building the South Beltway with one modification: the eastern terminus of the beltway is at the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Monroeville and Irwin, instead of the Parkway East near Thompson Run. That way, people who only need to go between the eastern and western fringes of the metropolitan area can do so without having to go through downtown Pittsburgh.
Another idea I have is turning PA 910 into a landscaped four-lane boulevard between I-79 and PA 28. The northern suburbs are affluent and growing pretty briskly, so it'd be nice to make PA 910 a focal corridor connecting nodes of development in Franklin Park and the townships of Pine, Richland, Indiana and Harmar. Develop some town centers near where PA 910 intersects I-79, U.S. 19, PA 8, Saxonburg Boulevard and Freeport Road. Maybe even a small light rail line or a trolley to connect them too?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minivan Werner
I believe that the part of I70 between Washington, PA and where it hooks into the Turnpike at New Stanton is extremely sub-standard based on highway regulations and I've never understood why it was constructed so far south of Pittsburgh. What if the southern beltway also combined with I70 to move it about 15 miles or so north of where it is now? You could kill two birds and possibly even get more federal funding since you are essentially making the southern beltway out of an *actual* interstate instead of a spur, loop or beltway designation.
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The segment of I-70 between Washington and New Stanton was originally built as PA 71, an east/west highway serving the industrial centers in the mid-Mon Valley. It's another example of Pennsylvania's "pre-Interstate Interstates" (sometimes it just doesn't pay to be a pioneer), and I'm pretty sure it ultimately ended up with the I-70 designation because it's a straighter shot between Wheeling, WV and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Yes, it's a very substandard highway, but PennDOT is hard at work
rectifying that right now. In fact, it'll look like a whole new highway by the end of this decade. The only segment that will stay as is is between the Speers-Belle Vernon and Smithton Hi-Level Bridges, both of which I assume will be replaced within the next 10 years. The Smithton interchange and a segment of the highway near it has already been
rebuilt, and you can see how much longer the new on- and off-ramps are (almost 1,000' of acceleration/deceleration lane per ramp). You can also see how the north side of the overpass is extra wide, just in case I-70 eventually gets widened to six lanes.
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