Parkway closure detours bring added time to afternoon commute in Pittsburgh
Updated: 6:15 PM EDT Jul 13, 2026
While the morning commute wasn’t as crowded as some expected with the Parkway East closure, the ride out of the city in the afternoon was a different story. “It wasn’t bad, but I left 15 minutes earlier than usual, and there was already traffic,” Shawn Alfonso-Wells, of Swissvale, said. “I don’t think coming in was bad. I think going home will be worse. Everybody’s converging.”For those who took the Commercial Street Bridge detour from Penn Avenue through Forbes in Oakland, they saw their drive from Oakland to Wilkinsburg lasted close to an hour. Without traffic, the route can be travelled within 20-30 minutes. Some found the detour hard to navigate, partially because their GPS wasn’t keeping up. “We got lost a couple of times,” Alisha Koumphol, who’s visiting from Canada, said. “There are quite a few detours and construction. Google Maps isn’t picking them up right away.”To help alleviate some of the congestion in Oakland, construction projects in the area will be halted during the detours. “They’ve committed to holding off on their project until we’re done with the detour,” PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang said. “I do want to thank the public. Everything’s going well, and the public’s doing what we asked them to do. They’ve planned ahead; they’re doing that, and we’re holding up our end of the bargain, too.”Despite the drive out of Pittsburgh being a bit slower, most drivers were pleased with what they saw on Monday. “When I was leaving for work earlier in the morning, there was a little more traffic going through Forbes and Murray,” Hannah Sagastegui, who was in the middle of detour traffic over the weekend, said. “It’s not absurd traffic. Not horrible. It was kind of normal; it just depends on when you leave the house. It was nothing like it was in Homestead on Saturday.”However, those working in the city aren’t calling the closure plan a success quite yet. “I think people were prepared for Monday,” Alfonso-Wells said. “The question is, what will it be like on Wednesday? That’s the time that everyone is going to say, ‘It wasn’t so bad, so I’m going to go in.’ As the week goes on and people venture out some more, it’s going to get worse.”Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.
PITTSBURGH —
While the morning commute wasn’t as crowded as some expected with the Parkway East closure, the ride out of the city in the afternoon was a different story.
“It wasn’t bad, but I left 15 minutes earlier than usual, and there was already traffic,” Shawn Alfonso-Wells, of Swissvale, said. “I don’t think coming in was bad. I think going home will be worse. Everybody’s converging.”
For those who took the Commercial Street Bridge detour from Penn Avenue through Forbes in Oakland, they saw their drive from Oakland to Wilkinsburg lasted close to an hour. Without traffic, the route can be travelled within 20-30 minutes.
Some found the detour hard to navigate, partially because their GPS wasn’t keeping up.
“We got lost a couple of times,” Alisha Koumphol, who’s visiting from Canada, said. “There are quite a few detours and construction. Google Maps isn’t picking them up right away.”
To help alleviate some of the congestion in Oakland, construction projects in the area will be halted during the detours.
“They’ve committed to holding off on their project until we’re done with the detour,” PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang said. “I do want to thank the public. Everything’s going well, and the public’s doing what we asked them to do. They’ve planned ahead; they’re doing that, and we’re holding up our end of the bargain, too.”
Despite the drive out of Pittsburgh being a bit slower, most drivers were pleased with what they saw on Monday.
“When I was leaving for work earlier in the morning, there was a little more traffic going through Forbes and Murray,” Hannah Sagastegui, who was in the middle of detour traffic over the weekend, said. “It’s not absurd traffic. Not horrible. It was kind of normal; it just depends on when you leave the house. It was nothing like it was in Homestead on Saturday.”
However, those working in the city aren’t calling the closure plan a success quite yet.
“I think people were prepared for Monday,” Alfonso-Wells said. “The question is, what will it be like on Wednesday? That’s the time that everyone is going to say, ‘It wasn’t so bad, so I’m going to go in.’ As the week goes on and people venture out some more, it’s going to get worse.”
Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.