PITTSBURGH trip
Aug. 12-13 2024
PART 6
US 30 in North Braddock. North Braddock is of course east of Braddock, where John Fetterman was mayor.
US 30 joins I-376 here. The bridge at left is for a long ramp for this interchange.
US 30 merges onto I-376. This stretch of freeway opened in 1953 as part of the "new Pittsburgh." It was I-70 from 1959-64, when the current I-70 was I-70S. Then it was I-76 until 1972 when it became I-376. During construction of the freeway, a young boy was severely injured because he was forced to walk through construction as other routes were blocked. His dad sued the construction firm to court.
The Brinton Road bridge over I-376.
I-376 goes through this tunnel under Edgewood Avenue, a bus-only roadway, a rail line, and Laurel Street.
We're finally in Pittsburgh, and I-376 uses the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. This is part of the 1953 stretch, though work began on the tunnel in the mid-1940s. Reception of FM radio has reportedly only been available in the tunnel since 2000.
Inside the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.
Exit 74 - which was once ranked as the second-worst interchange in the U.S. and U.K. - is a ridiculous tangle that dumped us on Beechwood Boulevard. The bridge ahead is for Murray Avenue.
East on Forward Avenue.
The magic of brick pavement returns on Anita Avenue.
Fernwald Road.
This speed limit sign on Fernwald is in a condition that suggests advanced age, but it couldn't be that old, because of the bad font. Older signs used quality fonts.
Brick is back on Mount Royal Road!
Saline! Saline! Luis! Luis! (I've always wanted to say that!) This is south on Saline Street at Federal Hill Street.
Hazelwood Avenue provides some great cobblestone pavement.
The Homestead Grays Bridge crosses the Monongahela River to Homestead. This late 1930s bridge was named for a legendary baseball team. The span feeds into West Street, which is so steep that it appears nearly vertical here.
PA 837 in West Homestead. I like the apartment building at left, because of the way it "steps" up the hill.
From PA 837, you can see a couple bridges over the Monongahela. Why, in front, there's the Glenwood B&O Railroad Bridge, which opened in 1884. Behind that, there's the Glenwood Bridge, which has PA 885 and opened in 1966. Wikipedia says that span replaced "an old, decayed, unsafe iron bridge" from 1894.
PA 837 goes under the Glenwood B&O Railroad Bridge.
Here we see the PA 885 span. This is as PA 837 is about to form an outrageously tangled interchange with the approach to that bridge.
On a ramp to PA 885 south, which continues to have freeway-style rampness for another mile or so.
PA 885 picks up Mifflin Road.
PA 885 uses Lebanon Road here and goes under a runway of Allegheny County Airport. This airport is now just a reliever, but it was once America's 3rd-biggest airport.
Lebanon Church Road in West Mifflin.