Home >  Local News

Friday, May 03, 2002

By now, most Pittsburgh drivers know that Downtown and North Shore traffic is often backed up because of the closure of the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel outbound and other road repair work.

But for a few hours Sunday, things are going to get considerably worse -- a result of street closings necessitated by the UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh Marathon.

A number of city streets along the 26.2-mile course will be closed for parts of Sunday morning and afternoon to clear the way for the more than 5,000 runners and walkers who are expected to compete in the annual event.

The new race course will start and finish at Heinz Field. The day's events will begin at 7:35 a.m., with the marathon course to remain open until 2:45 p.m. Certain streets along the course will close and reopen at various times between 6:15 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.

To help marathon participants, spectators and other commuters plan their travel into and around the city, detailed race course maps and approximate street closing and reopening times may be viewed on the marathon's Web site: www.upmc.edu/pghmarathon. For more information, call 412-647-7866.

Approximate times for some street closings and reopenings Sunday are:

West General Robinson Street, closing at 6:15 a.m. and re-opening at 2:45 p.m.; Federal Street and the Clemente Bridge to Sixth Street and Penn Avenue, 7:15 to 8:45 a.m.; the 16th Street Bridge through the North Side to the West End Bridge, 7:15 to 9:30 a.m.; Carson Street from the West End Bridge to Hot Metal Street, 7:30 to 10:45 a.m.

Birmingham Bridge, through Oakland to Fifth and South Aiken avenues, closing at 7:45 a.m. and reopening at noon; Penn and Braddock avenues through Homewood and East Liberty, 8:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Baum Boulevard to Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield to 28th Street and Penn Avenue through the Strip District, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Also, Penn Avenue from 16th Street to Seventh Street, Fort Duquesne Boulevard and the Clemente Bridge to Federal Street, 7:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The marathon will also require the Port Authority to make changes in some bus routes, starting with the first scheduled buses on Sunday morning. Regular Downtown routing for all affected buses will be re-established right after the conclusion of the race; regular routing in other sections of the city will resume as streets affected by the marathon are reopened.

Among the neighborhoods that will have the highest number of detoured buses are Oakland, Shadyside, Homewood, East Liberty, Point Breeze, South Side and North Side. The communities of Homewood, Garfield, Lawrenceville and Stanton Heights will be provided Sunday service on modified routing.

Many buses from south and west of the city will terminate at South Hills Junction, where customers can board 42S South Hills Village, 42L Library or Subway Local light rail cars to get to points in Downtown Pittsburgh. Port Authority will also operate a special shuttle service that will allow for connections to Oakland and efficient travel between Oakland and Squirrel Hill during the marathon.

Port Authority customers planning to use bus service Sunday should be alert for detours and service stop changes. Riders should allow extra travel time to and from their destinations during the marathon.

People traveling into and throughout Downtown are urged to use the "T" for uninterrupted transportation during the race.

Riders wishing additional information should call Port Authority Customer Service at 412-442-2000 or the TTY number, 412-231-7007, for the speech and hearing impaired.