(Announcements, News)

It could be a slow slog through the Mon-Yough area this weekend as springtime weather causes a variety of construction projects to finally bloom.

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The big news locally is tonight's closure of the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge, which was originally supposed to take place in April, but was postponed due to bad weather.

Allegheny County spokesman Kevin Evanto says public works crews will close the span at 8 tonight, and it will remain closed until 6 a.m. Monday.

The reason? Crews need to repave the approach ramps on the Duquesne side of the bridge.

Because of the ongoing work at the Rankin Bridge, the suggested detours instead take motorists down Lysle Boulevard, across the Mansfield Bridge, and then onto Camp Hollow Road, Philip Murray Road and back to Route 837. A map of the detour can be downloaded from the county's website.

(Nobody asked Tube City Almanac, but you probably know that a quicker detour would take you off the Mansfield Bridge at the first exit into Dravosburg. You'd then take the next two rights, cross the railroad tracks, and get back onto Route 837.)

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Don't think you swells in the Turtle Creek Valley are immune. According to Jim Struzzi, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, motorists using the Parkway East can expect delays in the area of the Greenfield-Squirrel Hill exit on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Crews will be inspecting the canopy underneath the Greenfield Road Bridge that keeps debris from falling onto the Parkway East and will need to close both the inbound and outbound lanes from time to time, Struzzi says.

The ramp from Squirrel Hill to the inbound Parkway East also will be restricted, he says. Restrictions will occur as well on the ramp from Squirrel Hill to the inbound Parkway East.

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Finally, traffic also will be restricted on the outbound lanes of the Parkway East between Churchill and Monroeville tonight and tomorrow morning while paving crews fix potholes.

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Things get worse Monday morning, especially in the Steel Valley area. Beginning at 9 a.m., Browns Hill Road inbound toward Glenfield and Squirrel Hill will be reduced to a single lane for paving and signal work.

According to Evanto, construction will continue for at least two weeks and the lane restrictions will be in place 24 hours.

Downhill traffic --- toward Homestead --- will be reduced to a single lane as needed, Evanto says, but those restrictions will be removed each day before evening rush hour.

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And wait until we tell you what's happening on Route 51 ... but! We've said too much already.