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PennDOT Announces Parkway East, Route 28 Restrictions For Graffiti Removal

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Lane restrictions for the Parkway East and Route 28 will be in effect on Thursday as crews work to remove graffiti.

Some see it as art, for others it's an eyesore.

"I think it's an eyesore," said Lindsey Sosnowski, who's lived in the city of Pittsburgh for six years. "It looks pretty messy. A lot of people graffiti over other graffiti, so it's not anything too pretty, I don't think."

Thursday, weather permitting, the designs and words will be sandblasted away.

From 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., traffic along Route 28 between the 31st Street Bridge and the 40th Street Bridge interchanges will be reduced to one lane.

Speaking about the lane restrictions, John Gressem of Elizabeth, said, "I think it's practical. They're cleaning up the roads; they're cleaning up the city. They're making it the way it should be."

Just below Route 28, on Wednesday afternoon, KDKA found what appears to be evidence from graffiti artists, or taggers, including spray paint cans, gloves and litter.

There is more graffiti along the Parkway East.

Inbound traffic there between the Boulevard of the Allies (Exit 72B) and Second Avenue (Exit 71B) will be reduced to one lane to remove the graffiti.

For some, it's not the lane restrictions, they're concerned about.

"How much is it going to cost tax payers? That's my first thought on it," said Jamey Fait, who lives in downtown Pittsburgh.

KDKA hasn't received the total cost to taxpayers yet, but KDKA's Lisa Washington found workers painting over some of the graffiti Wednesday. The crews used gray paint to cover the colorful words and symbols of the artists who PennDOT would like to see find another canvas.

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