Northbound I-79 at Neville Island Bridge closing again this weekend

Motorists who use Interstate 79 to travel north through Allegheny County can expect another round of traffic delays Friday through early Monday as a third installment of an ongoing $43 million rehabilitation project starts on the Neville Island Bridge.

PennDOT District 11 said the northbound lanes of the span will close from 8 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday as part of the project that will impact traffic in Coraopolis and Glenfield boroughs and Robinson and Neville townships.

A full closure of the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in the northbound direction will occur as crews conduct bridge and roadway concrete repairs, roadway patching, strip seal replacements, bridge jacking for steel repairs, bridge painting and miscellaneous steel repairs.

To allow the work to occur, all northbound traffic will be detoured. Beginning at approximately 8 p.m. Friday, the state police will begin a slow roll of northbound Interstate 79 traffic at the Crafton/Moon (Exit 60) interchange and assist the contractor with reducing the roadway to a single lane of traffic.

Police and the contractor will then close a single-lane of traffic on the southbound side of the Neville Island Bridge. Finally, at approximately 9 p.m. Friday night, another slow roll of northbound I-79 traffic will occur from the Crafton/Moon Run interchange.

The police and contractor will guide all traffic to the detour route.

State and local police will be available to help keep traffic moving, but motorists should expect delays, PennDOT said.

The posted detour will have northbound motorists exit at the Coraopolis-McKees Rocks exit and turn left on Route 51 to continue through Coraopolis. Motorists are then advised to stay in the left-hand lane and follow signs to Route 65 Sewickley.

The detour will then have motorists turn right and cross the Sewickley Bridge and enter southbound Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard), take the left-hand ramp to I-79 toward Erie and at the split stay straight toward North 79 Erie, then turn left on Kilbuck Street and take the northbound ramp to I-79 Erie.

Northbound motorists also could avoid the detour by taking the Parkway West (Interstate 376) to the Parkway North (Interstate 279).

Work on other projects along the detour route will not occur this weekend, according to PennDOT.

The Interstate 79 Neville Island Bridge Rehabilitation Project includes structural steel repairs, full structure painting, bearing and deck joint replacements, deck repairs and overlays, bridge barrier repair, substructure concrete work and drainage improvements. The project also includes concrete roadway reconstruction, guide rail replacement and preservation work on four sign structures.

Additionally, preservation work will occur on the Interstate 79 bridge over Deer Run Road, north of the Neville Island Bridge. Motorists will see ramp closures and single-lane and shoulder closures in each direction on I-79 during daylight off-peak and overnight hours. Other traffic impacts include four northbound weekend closures in 2021 and four southbound weekend closures in 2022. The overall project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023.

The Trumbull Corporation is the prime contractor.

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