Two die in crash on Rt. 28

Driver going wrong way struck the other

Two days after a wrong-way driver caused a crash on the Liberty Bridge that left three people critically injured, two 24year-old women died in a wrong-way crash early Thursday on Route 28.

Sidney Cope of Coraopolis and Clara Roberts of Indiana, Pa., died after their cars collided at 3:36 a.m. on Route 28 inbound between the East Ohio and Chestnut streets exit and the 31st Street Bridge.

The preliminary investigation indicates that Ms. Cope was driving outbound in the inbound lane of Route 28 when her vehicle struck one driven by Ms. Roberts, according to city public safety spokeswoman Emily Schaffer. Both women were alone and both were trapped in their vehicles after the crash, Ms. Schaffer said.

The women were taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where Ms. Cope was pronounced dead at 6:45 a.m. Ms. Roberts was initially described as “critical” but died from her injuries at 11:25 a.m., according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office.

The crash brought rush-hour traffic to a halt for nearly three hours on the city's North Side, just two days after a wrong-way crash on the Liberty Bridge caused afternoon rush-hour gridlock across the city.

The state Department of Transportation maintains Route 28 and the Liberty Bridge.

PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said Thursday that the agency is in the middle of a project that will cost more than $700,000 to add high-visibility signage and pavement markings aimed at preventing wrong-way crashes in Allegheny County.

He couldn’t immediately say which roads are slated for improvements,buttheworkisscheduled

“We want to do everything that we can, obviously, to avoid these crashes that often unfortunately end up as a catastrophe,” he said.