Rehab work to close Squirrel Hill Tunnel outbound this weekend

PennDOT officials said Tuesday the outbound Squirrel Hill Tunnel will be closed around the clock this weekend for construction.

The tunnel will close at 10 p.m. Friday and will not reopen until 6 a.m. Monday. Work will include paving inside the tunnel, tile placement, water line installation, sandstone and brick cleaning, lighting work and other construction. The work is part of a $50 million project to rehabilitate the tunnel. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

The inbound tunnel will remain open during the outbound closure, PennDOT officials said.

To minimize the impact on Squirrel Hill businesses, PennDOT will post different detours for day and night. The daylight detour will route traffic from Forward Avenue to Beechwood Boulevard to Forbes Avenue to South Braddock Avenue and back onto the Parkway.

The night detour will route traffic from Forward Avenue to Murray Avenue to Forbes Avenue to South Braddock Avenue and back onto the parkway.

We anticipate this being the last full weekend tunnel closure of the project, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said. The contractor still has a closure in each direction per the contract, but it is doubtful they would use it. If all goes well this weekend, that should be the last full closure.

Bobby Kerlik is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7886 or bkerlik@tribweb.com.

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Rehab work to close Squirrel Hill Tunnel outbound this weekend