$34M project to replace old water mains in Pittsburgh will shut down busy road for more than a year

PITTSBURGH — A busy two-mile stretch of Becks Run Road from East Carson Street to East Agnew Road, through Pittsburgh’s Carrick, St. Clair, and Arlington neighborhoods, will look very different in just one week.

Pennsylvania American Water will be shutting it down beginning Monday, June 3 for several months to replace two water mains that are nearly 100 years old.

“I guess that’s progress. You’ve got to close these things every once in a while to make them better,” said driver Joe Zeff.

Pennsylvania American Water officials say the water mains provide up to 30 million gallons of drinking water each day to roughly 137,000 customers in southern Allegheny County.

“Absolutely, we should be doing that [construction]. We need improvements to local infrastructure anyway and that’ll make sure that they don’t have lead in them or any other issue. It’s really important that we have safe water and that’s part of that,” said driver Genevieve Barber-Turner.

She is among those supportive of the $34 million project, despite the lengthy detour drivers will be forced to take.

“We live in Pittsburgh and there’s many ways to get to one place. There’s always like six different alternate routes that you can take. Once you find a good route, then you’re solid,” Barber-Turner said.

“It’s an inconvenience for sure, but at the same time, it’s what’s required,” Zeff said.

Pennsylvania American Water says construction will take place between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

The company says residents, business customers, and buses will have limited access to Becks Run Road.

“We’ve seen here in Pittsburgh, bridges that collapse because infrastructure has been neglected, so it’s really hard to be upset about infrastructure that’s being maintained,” Zeff said.

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the summer of 2025.

For a closer look at the detour, click here.

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