Construction, or: Patches? We don't need no stinkin' patches!

Well there is a lot of construction going on right now in our backyard. So here are some photos and some updates for all of the loyal and disloyal readers (you know who you are!) of Write Pittsburgh.

Top: The construction at the Intersections of Bates and Coltart Streets proceeds apace. But it will lead to the inside lane being blocked off every so often as the bulldozers switch positions. Expect to navigate traffic cones and a person with a "slow sign" every so often.


Middle: The monumental efforts on the Boulevard of the allies to construct some sort of coherent pattern has yielded few "concrete" results (get it?). So far the vast amounts of machinery sitting on the construction site seems to be doing less than they should. Expect continuing delays and betweem about 8 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. expect to sit in traffic for 10 minutes or so until the man with the flag waves you through. But sometimes it is a traffic cop, and sometimes its a stop sign. So watch out.


Bottom: Work on the water main at the intersection of Forbes and Oakland Avenues finished, leaving the residents with a beautiful black scar running diagonally across the road. A large metal plate fixed into place with semi-temporary black tar is now holding space on the road. This sort of "patch" is common in the Oakland neighborhood and in others, but a lot of times it degrades before it should. But traffic patterns have been restored.

According to a press release from PennDOT earlier in the year there will be many attempts to improve the roads and highways in and around Pittsburgh. The Boulevard project is just one of the efforts that spans the county.

“This will be another robust construction season for PennDOT District 11 in Allegheny County,” said District Executive Dan Cessna, P.E. “All regional expressways will see dramatic improvements in ride quality. Thanks to the hard work of our employees and partners, District 11 will deliver many much needed transportation improvements in 2007.”