Downtown Pittsburgh Traffic To Be Disrupted Due To Rapid Bus Project

PITTSBURGH, PA — Traffic will be disrupted Downtown beginning next week as construction begins on Pittsburgh Regional Transit's $291 million rapid bus project between Downtown and Oakland.

Dubbed the University Line and branded as PRTX, the system will include 23 new stations, exclusive transit-only and bicycle lanes, intersection improvements, accessible ramps and more.

The system will impact more than 30,000 people a day in the Downtown-Uptown-Oakland corridor and provide more efficient transit service to and from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, Point Park University and Carlow >University.

Construction will start on Fifth Avenue between Liberty Avenue and Market Street, adjacent to Triangle Park. The contractor will work weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The initial work includes relocating and replacing water and sewer infrastructure.

Traffic on Fifth Avenue will be reconfigured for the first 30 days of construction. Both lanes of Fifth Avenue heading toward Fifth Avenue Place will be closed from Market Street to Liberty Avenue. Vehicles traveling toward Fifth Avenue Place will use the remaining travel lane.Traffic coming from Liberty Avenue onto Fifth Avenue will be detoured onto Sixth Avenue or Fourth Avenue via Stanwix Street.

The sidewalk along Fifth Avenue adjacent to Triangle Park will be inaccessible during this work.Once construction is complete, the Downtown Loop will include five PRTX stations:• Ross Street (Fifth Avenue at Ross Street)• William Penn Place (Fifth Avenue at William Penn Place)• Market Square (Fifth Avenue at Market Street)• Wood Street (Sixth Avenue at Wood Street)• Steel Plaza (Sixth Avenue at Grant Street)

Buses will enter downtown on Fifth Avenue, turn right onto Liberty Avenue, right onto Sixth Avenue, and left onto Forbes Avenue.

Construction of the Downtown Loop is expected to take 18 months.

The second phase of the project – from Uptown to Oakland – will be put out for bid before the end of the year.