It’s time for another round of changes in the Liberty Bridge reconstruction project.
The inbound Liberty Tunnel and Bridge will close from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. The closure will allow crews for Joseph B. Fay Co. to remove and relocate cabinets that hold overhead lane control signals.
At the same time, the contractor will close the ramp from the Boulevard of the Allies to the outbound Liberty Bridge. Reconstruction of the deck on the ramp will take 54 days, but the Boulevard will remain open from Grant Street to Oakland and the Parkway East.
The two-year, $80 million bridge reconstruction is being done in phases to allow workers to rebuild the deck for some lanes while keeping other lanes open. PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said this weekend’s closure will allow crews to prepare for the next leg of reconstruction on the bridge deck itself that will begin next month.
Inbound traffic will be detoured beginning at the south portal of the Liberty Tunnel at Route 51. One lane of outbound traffic will be maintained throughout the weekend.
The project, which will continue until 2018, includes replacing the bridge deck, reconstructing ramps, structural steel and concrete repairs, painting, new signs and installation of a new alternating overhead lane control system.
Traffic on the bridge will return to its normal weekday construction pattern at 5 a.m. Monday: two inbound lanes and one outbound lane until 2 p.m.; two outbound lanes and one inbound lane until 8 p.m.; and one lane in each direction until 5 a.m.
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1470.
First Published: August 11, 2016, 4:13 a.m.
