Proposal calls for widening Fort Pitt Tunnels
A Pittsburgh planning firm could recommend drilling under Mt. Washington to widen the Fort Pitt Tunnels to help alleviate Parkway West traffic congestion.
The Michael Baker Corp. now is determining whether the plan is feasible and will reveal the answer, along with the rest of its study, by the end of September, according to Max Heckman, a manager with the firm.
"We've started to look at it seriously, and we're hopeful it is feasible," Heckman said.
The company was hired for $1.5 million by a mix of local agencies, including PennDOT, the Port Authority, the Allegheny County Airport Authority, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and both Pittsburgh and Allegheny County governments, to study transportation concerns in the Parkway West and airport corridor.
Michael Baker has concluded widening the Parkway West in each direction is the best solution for highway congestion, Heckman said. Widening the road, however, would create a traffic bottleneck at the Fort Pitt Tunnel.
"A key part of this is what happens at that Downtown end," he said. "That makes it tricky."
Widening the 42-year-old tunnel would involve drilling new holes in the mountainside to create more room.
If recommended, the proposal will come on the heels of an $84.2 million improvement of the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Bridge, which will wrap up next year. The outbound lanes of the span were renovated this year.
PennDOT officials have not yet seen Michael Baker's recommendations and would not say whether the plan is realistic.
"We haven't seen anything they have proposed," said PennDOT spokesman Dick Skrinjar. "Proposals aren't cast in stone. Just because something is proposed doesn't mean it is going to happen. It's something to stimulate public debate and action."
The study is considering other transportation improvements, such as the development of a high-speed maglev line to the airport, construction of a new toll road and Ohio River Bridge, and adding bus lines.
A string of public meetings have been held in the suburbs to discuss aspects of the plan and local congestion concerns.
Heckman said details of how the tunnel could be widened or how much it would cost are being studied and will be determined before the plan is released next month.
"We haven't reached any conclusions in that regard yet," he said. "That's one piece of analysis we're working on."
Messages left Wednesday afternoon seeking comment from the other agencies that commissioned the study were not immediately returned.
