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West Carson St. Closure Causing Confusion For Drivers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The West Carson Street closure is now in place.

PennDOT shut it down Saturday morning and it won't reopen for two years.

Saturday was the first night for the detour, a night when there was a Pirates' home game and fireworks night, and it caused much confusion for motorists.

The closure impacts the outbound lanes only. It begins at the West End Bridge and goes until McKees Rocks. The inbound lane will remain open throughout the construction.

A two-lane makeshift section is open for some businesses with a small sign saying "for local traffic only."

But motorists driving in that area on the first night of the closure say it needs to be more clearly marked.

"Whoever is doing this road construction, they need to have a sign here," said one driver.

"The gentleman in front of me went, so I went, and it tells you at the end it's closed," another driver said.

"Someone's going to come this way and there's going to be a head-on collision here," added another motorist.

One driver said he got two flat tires trying to navigate the detour.

"I didn't see the detour; I tried to make a U-turn around, and basically, pretty much, I hit a broken pole and two of my tires went down and I'm stuck here now," he said.

PennDOT says closure is necessary because crews are going to be making a new concrete roadway, as well as replacing the wall.

The closure is set to detour 16,000 drivers and 6,000 daily riders of the Port Authority.

RELATED LINKS:
Traffic Nightmare Continues As West Carson St. Closes (8/2/13)
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