PITTSBURGH — A large pothole on a busy on-ramp was responsible for flat tires in several cars Tuesday morning.
PennDOT says the pothole, which has now been filled, was on the ramp to the Highland Park Bridge from Allegheny River Boulevard, heading toward Aspinwall. We saw drivers and tow trucks pulled off at a local plaza because of flat tires. A nearby autobody shop says they worked on several cars that hit the pothole.
“It seems to me that there are either always potholes or there is always someone patching them,” Rich Shields tells Channel 11. “I travel up and down this road quite a bit, so I’ve hit my fair share of potholes.”
Mark Hall says he takes the bridge every day and has been lucky enough to avoid hitting any potholes so far.
“They are quite bad, but they seem to be repaired quite quickly,” Hall said. “Usually they’re fixed within a couple of days.”
While crews were able to patch the potholes today, a more permanent solution with asphalt will be done next week. The ramps will have to close for those repairs. PennDOT says it will also be reviewing the ramp from the Highland Park Bridge to Butler Street.
PennDOT also told Channel 11 that the southern side of the Highland Park Bridge (along Allegheny River Boulevard) is the focus of an upcoming, $65 million project expected to begin in the spring of 2027. PennDOT provided the following:
“The project involves bridge preservation of the Highland Park Bridge and approach spans over the Allegheny River, Norfolk Southern Railroad, and Allegheny Valley Railroad in the City of Pittsburgh and O’Hara Township, Allegheny County. The scope of work includes steel repairs, spall repairs, painting, drainage repairs, deck treatment, sign structure repairs, bearing replacements, and expansion dam/joint replacements, and other miscellaneous bridge preservation work. Also included in the project is reconstruction of the adjoining S.R. 0008 Washington Boulevard Interchange, commonly referred to as the Southern Ramps. The Southern Ramps interchange work consists of four ramp reconstructions, three bridge deck replacements, barrier/curb replacements and repairs, drainage work, minor geometric and radius improvements, and other miscellaneous roadway work.”
PennDOT also tells Channel 11 News that motorists are able to file a claim that goes through the Bureau of Finance and Risk Management.
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