Latest news with #UniversityLine
CBS News
10-08-2025
- CBS News
Drivers, commuters bracing for more construction in Oakland this week
If you're heading through Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood this week, get ready for even more construction on top of what's already been frustrating drivers. This weekend marks the second phase of Pittsburgh Regional Transit's University Line Bus Rapid Transit Project. As part of the work, North Bouquet Street from Fifth to O'Hara will be closed through 6 a.m. Monday for reconstruction and line painting. "It's just in the way of pretty much everything I do around here," said Anthony Schiro, a student who lives in Oakland. While many in Oakland are used to the construction, that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. "It's usually once something's over, they go running to the next," said Schiro. "It's always a shifting narrative here in Pittsburgh. With what's closed and what's open, you just got to allow time and you'll figure it out," said Ron Baraff. And the timing couldn't be more challenging, with the Parkway East also fully closed this weekend, detouring traffic routes will cut through Oakland. "Anywhere I have to go, I have to get on Forbes, and that's where a lot of the backup and inconvenience is," said Schiro. "So, I just plan ahead, try to work it into my schedule wherever I'm going." Fifth and Forbes Avenue bus routes will continue to run as scheduled, and flaggers will help traffic flow. Forbes Avenue will also undergo line painting from Craft Avenue to Schenley Drive Extension, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PRT is urging travelers to leave early and expect delays. "If I get frustrated, it's because I didn't allow myself time," Baraff said. "I know what I'm dealing with here." Bottom line: Plan ahead, expect cones and maybe map out a backup route.
CBS News
30-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Two weekends of paving to begin on Friday in Oakland. Here's what motorists need to know
Traffic in Oakland will get even dicier over the next couple of weeks as two lanes of traffic on Forbes Avenue will be closed on the weekend as crews begin paving. According to Pittsburgh Regional Transit, crews will be restoring the road as part of the University Line bus rapid transit project. Crews will be paving the right lane of Forbes Avenue at three different locations beginning on Friday, August 1, at 8 p.m., and the work will continue until 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 2. Those three locations are between Craft Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard. While crews will be working on the right lane, the center lane will be blocked by construction equipment, with crews maintaining one lane of traffic during the paving. Parking and stopping will be prohibited during the project. Drivers and pedestrians can expect the following this weekend: Then, on Saturday, August 9, paving will take place in the right lane of Forbes Avenue from Schenley Drive to Schenley Drive Extension. PRT is expected to release more details on that paving project next week. Pittsburgh Regional Transit's University Line project is expected to be completed in 2027.
CBS News
22-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus route changes go into effect Sunday
If you ride PRT buses in Pittsburgh, there's a chance your route could look different starting Sunday. Pittsburgh Regional Transit will implement a service adjustment that will affect several routes, stop locations, and schedules. It also includes the launch of Downtown service on the University line. which is the 61A, 61B, 61C, and 71B. This has been in the works for months, but some bus riders say they are still not ready. This will be the last time Donna Oguntayo regularly transfers buses at this stop on Liberty Avenue. "I'm sitting here right now, and the 61C is not going to be here tomorrow, you know," Oguntayo said. The stop for one of the buses she takes is being moved to nearby Fifth Avenue, where the station is still closed off. The distance, she says, won't be an inconvenience. "I'll figure it out." "It'll benefit, and I think the whole city will, at large. It is an improved system of traffic," Anthony Williams said. Fredrick Littlejohn came to KDKA-TV looking for his new bus route. "I don't even know how they're going to get through it for tomorrow," he said. "It sucks." One significant change is that the University Line buses will now utilize the newly painted bus-only lanes on Fifth and Sixth Avenues. "It's just safer, it's convenient," Williams said. "I like (the new bus lanes) because it's a lot of cars," Littlejohn said. "And you know, all the changes of the routes and where to catch what, it was confusing at first, but adjustments, that's what adjustments are," Williams added. Oguntayo thinks there should have been announcements on the buses. "I wish we'd known about it sooner," she said. "But I'm okay with it, everything having to change, but I'm worried about senior citizens, it will mess them up," Littlejohn said. Pittsburgh Regional Transit's website offers a map and allows users to enter their specific bus route to see if service has been impacted. To find out if your route has been affected, click here.
CBS News
19-05-2025
- CBS News
Pittsburgh Regional Transit installing new bus lanes in Downtown Pittsburgh this week
The next phase of construction on Pittsburgh Regional Transit's University Line is set to get underway and is likely to cause some headaches for Downtown Pittsburgh drivers. Changes will be coming to Downtown Pittsburgh in five different phases, with the first of those phases taking place primarily along Liberty Avenue as PRT begins installing red bus lanes. PRT says that dedicated bus lanes are a major step towards improving service and reducing congestion and say this will transform daily commutes and make public transit more reliable. Starting Monday, installation of the red bus lanes will begin with detours starting at 7 a.m. and work will start at 8 p.m. each evening. When the red bus lanes are completed in Downtown Pittsburgh, routes 61A, 61B, 61C, and 71B will each travel in the new lanes, heading inbound on Fifth Avenue and outbound on Sixth Avenue. Work along Liberty Avenue is expected to be completed by 6 a.m. Tuesday. PRT says that buses won't stop at Liberty and Sixth and Sixth and Smithfield during the first phase of construction. The four additional phases of construction will take place through May 28.
Axios
27-02-2025
- Business
- Axios
Planning commission clears path for development in Uptown
The neighborhood that bridges the city's two biggest job centers could get another large housing development. Why it matters: Uptown sits between Downtown and Oakland and has been waiting for housing and commercial redevelopment opportunities as investment pours into the neighborhood. Driving the news: Cincinnati-based Stough Group on Tuesday presented a plan to demolish three vacant and condemned buildings that would clear the way for a 196-unit mixed-use development at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Van Braam Street. The city's planning commission unanimously approved it. What's inside: The seven-story building would include a fitness room, a lounge, a pool deck and a rooftop terrace and green roof meant to capture 50% of rain runoff. 10 units would rent at 30% or lower of the monthly income of people who make at or below $56,700 a year. It also would include a 2,200-square-foot public plaza, 8,000 square feet of retail space, and 103 parking spaces. A cost estimate was not provided in the planning commission agenda presentation. What they're saying: Stough Group CEO Scott Stough said Tuesday his family has owned the church on the corner of Fifth and Marion Street since 1983, and he is excited to contribute new development to the neighborhood. "We look forward to adding to the history that we already have in the Uptown/Bluff neighborhood," he said. GBBN, the project's architect, is proposing building with mostly wood to comply with Uptown's eco innovation district, an initiative started in 2017 to prioritize sustainable building methods and environmental goals for the neighborhood, said GBBN principal Amanda Markovic. State of play: Fifth Avenue is bustling with projects. A 34-unit affordable housing development broke ground last year just two blocks up the street, and a 254-unit mixed-use project located two blocks in the other direction cleared the planning commission in April. Context: All the projects are along the Fifth-Forbes corridor, where the $291 million University Line bus rapid transit project is currently under construction and upgrading the neighborhood's infrastructure. Stough said to the approval of some planning commissioners that his group has been in discussion with Pittsburgh Regional Transit to ensure the development helps the transit agency meet its transit-oriented development goals. The future housing projects are also located just a stone's throw away from the $510 million expansion of UPMC Mercy, which was completed in 2023, and a new $55 million Duquesne University medical college, which opened last year. What's next: GBBN principal Amanda Markovic said the final design for the redevelopment will be submitted for review within the next month.
