Construction to shut down Swinburne Street for nearly five months

A $630,000 construction project will begin Monday on Swinburne Street that is expected to close the roadway that links Greenfield and South Oakland for about five months.

The beginning of the Swinburne Street wall and stabilization project follows several months of geotechnical analysis and engineering design, the city said. The project aims to correct an ongoing slope instability issue and restore unrestricted two-way traffic to the street.

Swinburne is one of several city streets that have been affected by landslides as a result of record-breaking wet weather in the region over the past year. The city said it anticipates that more than $8 million of local capital will be invested this year to protect and restore public rights of way.

Several other landslide-related projects are set to begin in the coming months, including on List Street in Spring Hill, Semicir Street in Perry North, William Street in Mount Washington and Forward Avenue in Squirrel Hill/Swisshelm Park.

The city spent $1 million in its response to the landslide on Greenleaf Street in Duquesne Heights last year.

During the latest project, Swinburne Street will be closed to all traffic in both directions between Greenfield Avenue and Edgehill Street/ Childs Street on the Greenfield/South Oakland border. The city said it will provide a detour.

Access to the Sestili Nursery will still be maintained, according to the city.

On Friday, Allegheny County’s Department of Public Works announced that the reopening of Nadine Road between Allegheny River Boulevard and Lincoln Road in Penn Hills has been delayed.

The closure, which was originally expected to end in October, is now expected to end in December.

The closure began July 12 following storms that overturned a retaining wall and caused a portion of the road to collapse. At that point the decision was made to move forward this year on a new retaining wall as well as roadway and drainage repairs that had been scheduled for 2020.

As a result, the contractor began design and construction. But the project has had unanticipated design delays and additional scope of work and also resulted in utility locations that needed to be addressed.

Until the road can be reopened, traffic will continue to be detoured using Allegheny River Boulevard, Sandy Creek Road, Verona Road and Lincoln Road.