Penguins & Pirates Games, Trump Rally Could Cause Traffic Nightmare
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Our city of three rivers will have a confluence of three events Wednesday, when the Pittsburgh Penguins begin playoff action, the Pittsburgh Pirates return to PNC Park and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump comes to town.
"This is a great thing for us," said Jeremy Waldrup, of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. "We have hundreds of restaurants in Downtown Pittsburgh and they are going to be packed tomorrow night, so we love a vibrant city."
That is certainly the glass half full approach, but let's talk about the empty half. Starting with the Trump motorcade leaving Oakland for Downtown Pittsburgh as Pirates and Penguins fans converge on the city as well.
"They'll go from Oakland to the Convention Center, so that should be a short ride and there shouldn't be any road closures for that motorcade," said Pittsburgh Operations Chief Guy Costa.
In fact, that applies as well to the Parkways as Trump comes and goes. It's a rolling motorcade, so no Parkway closings.
But if you're CONSOL Energy Center-bound around 7 p.m., the prime arrival hour for the 8 o'clock game, you could run into some trouble.
"If you're coming out of the North Hills, there could be a possible short delay coming off 279 going into the CONSOL Energy Center," said Costa.
But Pirates fans should already been in place for the 7:05 p.m. first pitch, so there's not expected to be a traffic conflict.
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But parking garage space might be interesting.
"Park where you want to be, and then you can walk around from there," Waldrup says.
If Penguins' fans stay in the Uptown area, and Pirates fans on the North Shore and lower point garage, there should be space for Trump supporters in the general Convention Center and Strip District areas.
"We have 40,000 spaces in Downtown Pittsburgh, so we should be able to accommodate everyone," says Waldrup.
