PITTSBURGH \u2014 The main detour from the Parkway East closure is bringing tens of thousands of people through Pittsburgh neighborhoods, including Regent Square.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got the people who live here who are trapped,\u201d Tristan Palazzolo told Channel 11. <\/p>\n
Palazzolo is the general manager of El Burro in Regent Square and he\u2019s hoping that people in the neighborhood go to his restaurant for dinner because of the gridlock on South Braddock Avenue. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say the first night, Saturday, from what I could tell, people were not coming out. Probably because they were worried about the traffic and whatnot,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
People who live and work in Regent Square tell Channel 11 traffic was bumper-to-bumper for most of the day. It\u2019s been a cut-through for drivers to avoid the detour from the Commercial Street Bridge closure. <\/p>\n
Today at a news conference, PennDOT district executive Jason Zang told us he\u2019s aware of the issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really difficult to control where the general public decides to steer their vehicles. So, short of closing the neighborhood down, we are just going to have to continue to watch that and remind people not to drive through those neighborhoods,\u201d Zang said. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s predicting things will improve. <\/p>\n
\u201cI do think that it should get better. If they\u2019re not saving any time going through there, they might decide that\u2019s not really worth it and do something different or completely alter their detour,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Officials say the project is on schedule, and they plan to demolish the old bridge by the end of the week. <\/p>\n
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