Ten of thousands of Parkway North and Route 28 commuters are finding a new traffic pattern today as they approach Downtown.
The new traffic pattern is a scene of opposites. You have to do the exact opposite of what you’ve always done to access I-579, the Veterans Bridge.
You have to be in the left lane, southbound, to take the new crossover into the HOV lanes, which was just build over the weekend.
If you stay to the right and miss the crossover, you have to take I-279 toward the North Shore/Fort Duquesne/Fort Pitt Bridge.
PennDOT provided the following information on restrictions:
Southbound I-279 traffic to southbound I-579 will be crossed over into the I-279 HOV lanes approximately 500 feet south of the Swindell Bridge. The crossover into the I-279 HOV lanes will be made from the left-hand lanes of southbound I-279.
Crossed over traffic will continue from the I-279 HOV lanes into the I-579 HOV lanes.
Once on the Veterans Bridge, traffic from the southbound I-579 HOV lanes will be crossed back over into the southbound I-579 lanes.
Two 11-foot lanes will be maintained in this new configuration.
Additional traffic restrictions include:
The southbound Route 28 ramp to southbound I-579 (Ramp G) will be closed to traffic.
The currently open ramp from southbound I-279 to southbound I-579 will be closed to traffic.
All access to HOV entrances and exits from southbound I-279, the Perrysville Park and Ride, McKnight Road, Anderson Street, Mazeroski Way, and Bedford Avenue are currently closed and will remain closed to traffic.
Access to the southbound I-279 HOV lanes south of the split to the I-579 HOV lanes will be prohibited.