Work on turnpike bridge to close Unity Trestle Road in Plum for 4 weeks

Another road in Plum will be closed because of work on a new bridge over the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Unity Trestle Road will be closed between Universal Road and Old Leechburg Road/Millers Lane from Oct. 19 until Nov. 15, Jeff Ronosky, a project manager with Mosites Construction, said Wednesday.

Work will include realignment of Unity Trestle Road with the new bridge and tie-in of Bank Street and business driveways. Construction may take place around-the-clock, seven-days-a-week.

The work will be done while maintaining access to businesses in Unity Plaza and a nearby Sunoco gas station.

“We’re going to do the work in a couple of phases,” Ronosky said. “We’re going to phase it so that we can keep access to the businesses. We’ll work the Plum side of the bridge first and get that all tied in and reopen all the way down to Sunoco, then work the Penn Hills side of the bridge.”

In the first phase, crews will tie in Unity Trestle Road to Bank Street and the intersection of Old Leechburg Road. During this phase, access to Unity Plaza will be available from the intersection of Unity Trestle and Old Leechburg roads.

Access from the same intersection to Sunoco will be by the Bank Street detour, which will bring traffic one block up Old Leechburg Road and onto Allegheny Avenue. The portion of Unity Trestle Road from Sunoco to Universal Road will be open for access to the gas station only.

In the second phase, crews will work on tie-ins to Universal Road and Katz Street. During this phase, Unity Trestle will be open from Old Leechburg Road to Bank Street for access to Unity Plaza and Sunoco.

Patyn McCune, owner of Lelulo’s Pizzeria in the plaza, said she isn’t worried about the impact on her business as long as she keeps in touch with her customers.

“There’s going to be delays. I’m sure it will be a bit of a headache but I don’t think it will be too bad,” she said.

McCune said the closure is coming at a bad time, because Halloween is her second busiest day of the year, and she worries what traffic will be like for that.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” she said. “Hopefully it’s done a little quicker than they say it’s going to be.”

The posted detour route from the Penn Hills side of the bridge will use Leechburg Road, to New Texas Road, to Old Leechburg Road, Ronosky said. The detour from the other side will use the same roads in the opposite direction for most vehicles except trucks, which he said will be directed down Saltsburg Road to Leechburg Road because they can’t make the turn from Unity Trestle to Old Leechburg.

While local residents will know shorter ways around the closure, Ronosky said they can’t be posted for use because of bridges with weight limits.

McCune said she may look into putting up signs of her own directing people to her pizza shop a way other than the official detour.

Bridges over the turnpike are being replaced to prepare for its widening.

Saltsburg Road nearby in Plum had been closed for nearly a month earlier this year for work on a new bridge over the turnpike. Saltsburg reopened Aug. 12.