Route 51 detours set up for bridge beam project

Installation of the beams will take place from late Friday night through early Monday morning.

Bridge beam installation for the next phase of the Route 51 to I-376 Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s southern section project is scheduled to begin Friday night.

Motorists will have detours for overhead bridge beam installation set to take place from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.

A portion of Route 51 in Jefferson Hills will be closed in both directions, and will affect the area from Worthington Avenue to Peters Creek Road with a posted detour and traffic controls in place, according to the turnpike commission.

“This weekend, a closure of state Route 51 in Jefferson Hills Borough will take place so workers can place bridge beams which will eventually carry traffic on the Mon/Fayette Expressway over state Route 51 in Jefferson Hills,” said Renee Colborn, operations communication officer for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. “While this is a major artery to be closed, it will only impact traffic over the weekend. We chose the weekend because traffic is lighter in the area during that time. The roadway will reopen by Monday morning in time for the morning rush.”

The usual work scheduled for Pennsylvania Turnpike 43 is 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and Friday and Saturday shifts are used when needed.

A second, full-weekend closure will occur in the same location at the same times from Sept. 6-9 to install additional bridge beams, according to the commission.

This work is weather dependent, so this weekend’s work may be postponed if inclement conditions occur. According to PA Turnpike, an alternate date for this work would be Sept. 13-16.

This construction is part of Section 53A1 of the Mon/Fayette Expressway PA Route 51 to I-376 Project’s southern section, which is continuing to chug along on construction.

The section, which begins where the current expressway ends at state Route 51 in Jefferson Hills and stretches approximately three miles north of Coal Valley Road, has undergone work since March 2023.

DETOURS • A2 Boulevard.

The nearly $214 million contract requires Trumbull Corp. to excavate more than four million cubic yards of earth and build six bridges. The remaining construction sections will go through the bidding process and begin construction as bids are awarded.

Five of the bridges will be built as part of the mainline Mon/Fayette Expressway, while the sixth will carry state Route 885 over the Mon/Fayette Expressway. A cashless toll point will also be built within this section.

Additional bridge work over and under Jefferson Boulevard, south Route 885 and Coal Valley has also been in the works.

Traffic updates

“Construction is in full swing from Jefferson Hills Borough through Clairton and into West Mifflin Borough,” Colborn said. “Due to construction there have been a lot of traffic restrictions on local roads that have been a challenge for drivers, but fortunately these restrictions are only temporary. Contractors try to close one main artery at a time to allow drivers to utilize other local roads for the detour routes.”

According to another release from the Turnpike Commission, Coal Valley Road is currently open, and while there is still major construction ongoing in this area, it will be closed again in the future for bridge steel erection and road reconstruction.

South Route 885 Clairton Road is open, and there will be construction traffic and deliveries in this area.

However, there will be more excavation near Jefferson Boulevard, with drivers traveling to southbound PA Turnpike 43 expected to experience lane shifts at the ramp on Jefferson Boulevard.

All traffic has been shifted to the northbound ramp, and once over the bridge, southbound traffic on the ramp will cross back over to the southbound side, according to the release.

Drivers traveling southbound from southbound Route 51 flyover ramp need to stop at the end of the ramp before moving onto Jefferson Boulevard, according to the Turnpike Commission, which advises motorists to monitor their speed through this construction area.

The release said traffic shifts will also occur for phased reconstruction of Jefferson Boulevard at south Route 51 intersection to prepare for this weekend’s south Route 51 closure for steel erection.

Additionally, Brickyard Road will have traffic restrictions during working hours — with access and traffic will be limited during weekend closures.

Other work updates

In addition to traffic restrictions, blasting in the area “for mass excavation” will continue through December 2025 between Jefferson Boulevard, according to the commission, as well as south Route 885 between Coal Valley and New England roads.

Five minutes prior to blasting, the contractor will give three horn alerts of 15 seconds each. One minute prior to blasting, three horn alerts of 10 seconds will be sounded, and 30 seconds prior to blasting, a series of short horn alerts will happen. After the blast, the area will be checked, and a horn will be sounded for 15 seconds to indicate that “all is clear.”

Bulk excavations have also continued on the project — with material being transported on large off-road trucks, according to the release.

On Jefferson Boulevard, new concrete pavement is being placed in closed areas, as well as on Route 43’s southbound ramp on the southbound lanes and the Jefferson to Route 43 southbound ramp. Repairs are also being made on southbound Ramp Bridge while it is closed.

Erosion control measures are installed and will be modified as construction advances, and the erosion controls will be maintained as necessary. Diversion ditches have been constructed to take runoff water to sediment basins, a street sweeper is on-site and will be used to clean local roadways when needed, and water trucks are on-site to be utilized to control dust when needed.

The Turnpike Commission gives weekly construction updates on the area, which can be found on its website at www.paturnpike.com.

Section 53A1 is expected to be finished in the fall of 2026, and Section 53A2 is to be finished in the summer of 2027, according to the website.

“We have not had any setbacks during construction,” Colborn said. “Everything is moving along as we expected, and we are on track to finish these first two construction sections in the summer of 2027.”