Mon Incline to close for 4 days

The Monongahela Incline between Mount Washington and Station Square will be closed for at least four days beginning Tuesday while workers replace a cable.

Port Authority, which operates the incline, hopes to have shuttle buses available during the closure, and the 40-Mt. Washington serves the nearby Smithfield Street Bridge at Station Square bus stop.

The work involves replacing a cable used to haul the incline cars up the hill. The authority inspects the cables regularly and changes them every two or three years.

The system also has a safety cable, which was last changed in 2019 while the system was out of commission for several weeks due to flooding from a water line break.

The authority stressed that the schedule to replace the cable could change if the weather is poor.

The incline transports about 11,000 riders a week during normal times, but during the pandemic that is down substantially. Spokesman Adam Bandolph said the most recent figures from February show about 1,000 riders, which he said probably has increased since then as the weather has improved.

Shuttles, which will be used based on the availability of drivers, will operate this way:

From the start of service until 8 p.m., riders will board the shuttle at the shelter behind the Station Square T station. After 8 p.m., riders will board at the bus stop on East Carson Street.

On Mount Washington, shuttle riders will board at all times on Grandview Avenue across from Shiloh Street.

To accommodate the shuttle, the Wabash Tunnel will be open only to outbound traffic during the incline work.

Riders can contact Customer Service at 412-4422000, Twitter@ PghTransitCare or www.portauthority.org.