Lokay Lane by Jim Lokay

Tonight on KDKA-TV News at 5, find out how we stack up against drivers in other states.  And test your knowledge of the rules of the road with the National Drivers' Test.  You can take it at http://www.nationaldriverstest.com.  Then, come back here and tell me what you thought about it. 

If you're wondering, I scored a 95%.  I figure to keep my traffic reporter crown, I need to set an example!

 

Driving in this morning, I saw the big message board flashing a message I knew was coming -- but not this soon!

On Friday, PennDOT is shutting down the ramp connecting the Boulevard of the Allies to Crosstown Boulevard/I-579 North.  Essentially, if you use that exit, if you're not thinking ahead, you'll end up on the Liberty Bridge!

More information is forthcoming, I'm sure, as well as a status update on the Parkway North HOV lanes.  Sure, we'd all like to see them opened, but remember, it's only the prelude to a much larger construction project.

And if you were watching the morning show today, Happy Air Quality Action Day!

Here's what to expect on the Parkway East so far this weekend:

- Single lane patterns in effect on the outbound side from Edgewood-Swissvale to Monroeville starting Friday night at 9 p.m. through Monday morning. (Essentially, if you're going to the Pirates/Padres series this weekend, get ready for headaches leaving town unless you have another route.)

- Ramps to the outbound Parkway at Forest Hills and Wilkinsburg are closed for reconstruction. (I drove past them the other day, and they are literally being torn up and rebuilt.)

If you're wondering how you should change your weekend plans, look no further.

Through this week, PennDOT is planning to do work on the shoulders only -- therefore, no overnight lane closures are expected.

However, PennDOT does confirm outbound work is on the way this coming weekend. Specifics will be released later in the week.

Here's the official schedule from PennDOT:

July 14-18:

· No mainline work is scheduled.

· Daylight shoulder closures from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in both directions of the Parkway East from the Squirrel Hill tunnel to Monroeville (Exit 10B). Crews will be installing signs and conduit.

· Shoulder closures will occur from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on various ramps at the Churchill interchange (Exit 9) and Wilkinsburg interchange (Exit 8). Crews will be patching concrete on the shoulders.

"Okay, this isn't awful. It's always backed up on the ramps."

Insert random cursing here.

The text message popped up at about 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.  It was an incredibly gorgeous day, albeit a bit humid, and I was on my way to my softball game in Oakland. 

"Parkway East backed to Ft Pitt Brdg.  Pass it along to other team members."

My friend (and starting right fielder) Scott drives in from the Coraopolis area, and he ran smack dab into the massive traffic jam caused by PennDOT's latest round of roadwork on the Parkway East.  It was down to single lane from well before the tunnels to the Business 22 interchange in Wilkins Township. 

As I made it onto the Parkway from Ardmore Boulevard, it was smooth sailing (disregard the photos -- they come into play later.)  As I looked at the other direction, it was a totally different story. 

There were the cones, the workers, the equipment, and then there was the traffic.

The speedometer on my car went up, as I saw a distinct pattern on the other side.

"Car...car....car.....car......car.......car........car.........flagger with the stop sign........car..................car-car-car-car-car-car-car-car-car."

Of course, it got worse as my travels took me through the tunnels and towards the Bates Street interchange. 

Anytime there's road work, we try to get the word out as much as possible.  I grew up on the wrong side of town, which I classify as living ANYWHERE that involves the Parkway East to get to the city.  Therefore, I've learned the alternates.  I know how to get around the Parkway, and make good time doing it as well.

The inbound detour has been a breeze. I just take Ardmore Boulevard past the Parkway ramps, past one of our competitors, and I make the left towards Brinton Road. Then, I follow it through Edgewood, take a right at the light near Edgewood Primary, a left at the borough building, and a quick left at the next light. You then take the first right at the Edgewood Club, and that shoots you right back onto the Parkway -- provided the closure affects things BEFORE the Edgewood/Swissvale interchange.

Of course, I automatically assumed that my evening trek into downtown for dinner with friends would be a fairly uneventful one. Sure, the Pirates were at home, but I figured I could still make the drive. That's where the top picture comes in. For about five minutes, I just figured people were having problems merging. After moving the equivalent of a single car-length, I realized something was wrong.

I picked up the phone and called 1-866-MY-TRAFC (it's a free service from the folks who supply the information I use daily during Real-Time Traffic.) I found out that there was a car flipped over at the entrance to the tunnels. I had no real way to get out of that. Unfortunately, a few drivers decided it would be a splendid idea to bust through the large "DO NOT ENTER" signs at the closed-off outbound Parkway ramp. I hope they were ticketed heavily. You know who you are.

Regardless, it took me AN HOUR to get downtown. But that wasn't all.

When construction closures affect the outbound side, the detour situation is a bit different. You can't really expect to take my aforementioned detour in reverse since traffic is usually horrendous well before the start of the closed-off route. Therefore, I've typically weaved my way through Oakland to Squirrel Hill to Regent Sqaure, or used Second Avenue into Homestead, then followed 837 home.

I happened to be in the North Hills on Saturday. Around 12:30 a.m., I decided to call it a night, so I got into my car and headed home. I followed the Parkway North to the Veteran's Bridge, where I ran into a single-lane pattern. No big deal, right? Usually, it's not. My big problem was that I inadvertently forgot about the Boulevard of the Allies closure. I knew the bridge there has been closed for months, but it didn't immediately click in my head until it was too late. The closure meant I was going to end up in that thick-as-molasses single lane pattern.

After moving about a half-mile in 30 minutes, I started to get restless. Apparently, so did the folks from Mississippi in front of me. They thought it would be a good idea to blast the most obnoxious music, get out of their car, and dance on the Parkway. THEY DANCED. Every time traffic would creep forward, a space the equivalent of a car-length opened up before them, but it took these guys a few minutes to realize what was going on. I realize it's a minute amount of space, but hey, a car-length is a car-length, right?

In the end, it took 45 minutes to get to the entrance of the outbound closure, which is where all of the fun starts. Fortunately, once everyone has jockeyed for position and makes the single-lane trek to points east, the speeds picked up significantly.

What's the lesson I learned? Pay attention to me the next time! Still, I can't say I'm too happy. While no one was really to blame, I blew a lot of gas sitting in traffic.

Good times.

In just about an hour, TunnelWatch '08 kicks into high gear.  The Port Authority says that massive tunnel boring machine will arrive downtown, marking the completion of the first "big dig" underneath the Allegheny River.  In essence, it's one down, one more to go.

It's undoubtedly a big milestone for the project, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg.  There are still several components in the planning stages, including:

• How to pay for a $50 million Gateway Center subway station, when the bids have come in well over budget.
• Demolishing the SportsWorks complex on the North Side, and erecting above ground rails for the new Heinz Field station.
• Drilling the second tunnel.

Judi McNeil from the Port Authority just told me the drill should break through between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.  We'll have more on KDKA-TV News at Noon and also in our later newscasts today. 

What do you think about the project?  Share your thoughts with me below.

Thomas Wambold will likely be sticking to the ticket-only lanes here on out.

Did you hear the one about the trucker who allegedly rang up a half-million dollars in Turnpike fines?

The state police sure have, and now Thomas Wambold of Indiana County is facing a litany of charges.  They say the truck driver got hold of a stolen E-ZPass transponder, and traversed the state more than 15 hundred times on the state's dime -- or five million of the state's dimes. 

That's right.  Police say he's responsible for ringing up $500 thousand in fines, and never paying for his travels.  Did the long arm of the law catch up to him based upon his supposed transgressions? 

Nope.  As it turns out a burned out tail light did him in.  Police claim he later admitted to the toll thefts.

Last week, new sales numbers for U.S. automakers were released, and the results were not good.

In the month of June, General Motors sales were down about 18%.  Toyota reported a drop of over 21%.  Ford sales went down 28%.   (Read more at CBSNews.com)

A faltering economy and high gas prices are undoubtedly to blame.  Unfortunately, both show no signs of changing. 

Have you postponed the purchase of a new or used car because of the volatile economy?  And does it surprise you that the three top automakers are all seeing double-digit drops in sales, regardless of their country of origin?

Same logo with the name we know.

New logo

Each day, I receive a dozen or so emails from PennDOT (or is it PENNDOT) detailing upcoming road projects and detour information.  They're sent out by Jim Struzzi, who handles communications for the local office in Bridgeville.  There's no doubt that does a great job disseminating the information for us media types, even though you may not be happy to hear what Jim says.  After all, he is the messenger.

Every email is stamped with that familiar blue-and-green logo, which has been in use for about ten years now.  It replaced a more staid design that incorporated a keystone that had been the sign of PennDOT for decades.  When the new logo came about, though, the spelling changed from PennDOT to PENNDOT.  Also, while it's pretty clear the double striped lines on the left signify a road, the blue dot on the right side is still a mystery to me.  (Post-Gazette transportation guy Joe Grata, one of the most knowledgable people when it comes to road issues, once said it looked like a pothole.) 

Enough about the logo.  It's what's accompanying the logo that's a bit of a mystery.  No longer do the emails say PENNDOT.  They've been replaced by "Pennsylvania Department of Transportation."  Granted, it's the same official name the agency has had for a long time, but that acronym "PENNDOT" is how we've known it as. 

Let's face it -- for some, it's become the equivalent of a four-letter word.  So is PennDOT/PENNDOT/Pennsylvania Department of Transportation trying to shed its name?  So far, I haven't heard anything about that, other than it being a stylistic choice. 

It brings to mind something that happened in New Jersey years ago.  The state used to refer to its driver licensing divison as the "Department of Motor Vehicles" -- DMV.  That's another acronym that's garnered much criticism through the years.  Now, it's called the Motor Vehicle Commission -- MVC.  I don't know enough about Jersey to tell you if the name changed the reputation, but it was clear in radio commercials that was the intent of the change.

Regardless, PennDOT's work continues.   Like it or not, the Parkway East will close again, Route 28 headaches will swell to astronomical proportions when they start work closer to the city, and there are probably some potholes still begging for a hot asphalt patch.  Because no matter what name it carries, some agency still has to be in charge.