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The long-awaited reconstruction of West Fifth Avenue in the 10th Ward and Fifth Avenue, Downtown, is underway.

Crews from two separate contracting companies on Monday began projects totaling about $2 million that are designed to transform both the city's long-suffering business district and one of its busiest arteries.

The work means traffic restrictions and delays along a mile and a half of city streets.

Traffic along West Fifth Avenue between the Jerome Avenue Bridge and Ramp Two# was restricted to one lane in each direction Monday morning while Donegal Construction Co. of Unity Township, Westmoreland County, removed the cracked and broken pavement.

. . .

West Fifth Avenue, which serves as a main entrance into the city from the west, carries about 21,000 vehicles daily.

"For all of those people who have been clamoring for activity, I hope they're patient," Mayor James Brewster said.

Under a $1.09 million contract approved last month by city council, Donegal will not only repave the street, it will remove the trolley tracks buried in the street that have prevented previous repaving efforts from lasting more than a few years.

The work on the city-owned street is being funded primarily through a special grant from the state Department of Transportation.

. . .

Meanwhile, along Fifth Avenue between Market and Walnut streets this morning, workers for Carnegie-based Power Contracting Co. had begun preparing the reconstruction of Fifth Avenue and the return of the street to two-way traffic.

Funded by PennDOT's Home Town Streets program, the $929,000 project is designed to make Fifth Avenue "more functional and friendly" to both pedestrians and drivers, said Dennis Pittman, city administrator.

Though it was once Allegheny County's second-largest shopping district and home to many department and specialty stores, Fifth Avenue went into a steep decline in the 1960s after shopping centers opened in North Versailles, Monroeville, Pleasant Hills and other communities. Today, only a handful of retail stores remain open.

. . .

The reconstruction project --- first announced in 2006 --- covers approximately eight blocks of Fifth Avenue between Water Street at the McKees Point Marina and Coursin Street at the Shop 'n Save supermarket. Work will include new street lights, new signs, new traffic lights and replacement of wheelchair access ramps, Pittman said.

Curbs and sidewalks will be replaced in many areas and parking islands installed in the 1970s will be removed. "As much parking as possible will be preserved," Pittman said. Electronic parking meters also will be installed.

. . .

In addition, the so-called "Cox's Corner" parking lot at Fifth and Walnut will get a new entrance on Fifth Avenue, and new benches and planters will be installed. Those will replace trees and plants embedded in the sidewalk, which were difficult to keep clean and maintain, Pittman said.

Restoring Fifth Avenue to two-way traffic between Coursin and Water is designed to encourage traffic to circulate through the old business district between UPMC McKeesport hospital --- the city's main employer --- and the marina and Palisades area, Pittman said.

Power Contracting is renting the "Cox's Corner" lot from the city for $650 per month for use by its employees and as a base of operation, Pittman said.

# - correction appended June 8

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