The Parkway North’s center lanes are officially on the hot seat. PennDOT has kicked off a formal study to rethink the reversible HOV lanes on I‑279, the stretch that funnels North Hills commuters into downtown Pittsburgh. The agency is weighing whether to keep the lanes as HOV, switch them to full-time two-way traffic, convert them to tolled managed lanes, or reserve them for dedicated transit. Officials expect the review to last about a year, with results slated for 2027. The HOV roadway, built as part of the Parkway North/Veterans Bridge project in the late 1980s to ease rush-hour congestion, has seen sagging use and a design that some drivers still find confusing.
According to CBS Pittsburgh, the idea for a fresh look at the corridor surfaced during a public-private partnership meeting and is meant to explore how to boost ridership while trimming long-term upkeep costs. PennDOT is considering several scenarios, including opening the lanes in both directions and trying out tolling, but CBS Pittsburgh notes that any actual changes are a long way off.
PennDOT’s District 11 HOV page spells out how the Parkway North lanes operate today, detailing where drivers can enter and exit, such as McKnight Road, the Perrysville park-and-ride and the downtown approaches, as well as the typical two-person minimum during peak hours. The department also schedules periodic closures for repairs or construction-related traffic shifts and offers an email list for Parkway North traffic alerts, according to PennDOT…