Photo by Vincent van der Pas/CC BY SA
It’s no exaggeration to say that the intersection of Washington Pike and Route 50 is literally the 10th circle of hell.
If Satan himself were promoted to Pennsylvania’s Director of Transportation, he would be hard-pressed to design a crueler traffic scenario than the one that residents of Bridgeville, South Fayette, and other communities suffer through daily.
A quick look at Twitter says it all:
Nothing is worse than Bridgeville traffic
— Matt Mehalic (@Woot_427) July 10, 2015
I HATE BRIDGEVILLE TRAFFIC. Washington pike is backed up all the way to Boyce road. ITS ONE IN THE AFTERNOON.???????????????????? — Tara Noelle (@Tarabaronee) May 29, 2015
There’s nothing more annoying than Bridgeville traffic
— T.J. Witzberger (@twitzberger) July 28, 2015
Could walk to bridgeville faster than moving in this traffic — melyssa masters☮ (@melyssamast) June 9, 2015
WHY IS BRIDGEVILLE TRAFFIC SUCH SHIT ITS A GOD DAMN FRIDAY DOES ANYONE GO TO WORK ANYMORE HOLY SHIT JESUS
— Jules (@__Juules__) July 10, 2015
But the situation isn’t hopeless — maybe.
Last year, several local governments, including Bridgeville, formed a “Route 50 Task Force” to address the ever-growing traffic problem.
Working with PennDOT to study possible solutions, the task force has developed a list of proposed fixes, including:
- Widening the bridge over Chartiers Creek (on Washington Pike between Bridgeville and South Fayette) from 4 lanes to 7 lanes
- Adding a dedicated right-turn lane to Chartiers Street for vehicles crossing the bridge into Bridgeville
- Widening Chartiers Street
- Adding a full left-turn lane on Washington Pike to access The Crossings at South Fayette shopping center
- Adding a second left-turn lane on Washington Pike southbound to access the I-79 ramps
- Adding a dedicated right-turn lane from Bridgeville to the I-79 northbound ramp.
You can download a PDF of the initial concept drawings here.
Concept drawing of a proposed improvement to the Route 50/Washington Pike intersection.
The list of recommendations is ever-evolving, and has become a regular topic of conversation at borough meetings, with both residents and officials questions some of the decisions.
Here, Bridgeville resident — and borough council candidate — Bob Fryer, who has been talking about the issue for months, suggests an alternative approach to the widening of Chartiers Street:
In July, Bridgeville Mayor Pasquale DeBlasio had questions about the proposed stacking lanes near McDonald’s and Get-Go in South Fayette:
So, what do you think? What can elected officials do to help fix traffic in the area?