Unauthorized Lane Restriction Leads To Traffic Jam On Banksville Rd.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Commuters traveling on Banksville Road Thursday morning had to push their way through unusually heavy traffic.
The bottleneck happened right where Banksville Raod merges with the Parkway West inbound. The unannounced lane closing is a big embarrassment for PennDOT.
"Let me apologize to motorists that got stuck on Banksville Road this morning," said PennDOT's Steve Cowan.
The Banksville frustration comes as motorists are already weary from a summer of constant backups and slowdowns while the Parkway West gets a makeover.
The lane closure shouldn't have come without a warning.
"We were caught off guard; very embarrassed by this," said Cowan. "This is something that we take pride in - informing our customers on this major work that's happening on the Parkway West."
It's true. PennDOT puts out daily emails on construction plans and closures. But this one got by them.
They're pretty upset with the contractor who got a more than $70 million contract with PennDOT.
"There is a potential for a penalty for the contractor. That'll be discussed once we work out the situation," Cowan said.
On Friday morning, they are going to try and ease some of the congestion by shifting traffic onto the shoulder, but it will still be a significant delay.
And if that's not bad enough, the Parkway West work will continue in to December.
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