What would reverse commuting out of the city be like? (Pittsburgh: renting, house)

[erbfarm]

I'll be moving to PGH next month (can't wait!!) and planning on renting a house for a year before looking to buy. I'll be working in Oakdale. I really like the Regent Square area near Frick Park. The map shows it's right on the Parkway and Google says my commute would be about 26 minutes (20 mi) but what's the reality like on the Parkway trying to get out of the city in the morning? Any bottlenecks? I'll probably be hitting the road no later than 7:30 AM. And what about coming home to Regent Square at around 4:45 pm? Any bottlenecks there? thanks for the info!!

[Blackbeauty212]

During the Rush Hour....The Parkways (especially the WEST) are "Parking Lots" even the reverse, I think with the PW it may be a little easier on the Outbound Reverse Commute, but the Inbound is ALWAYS A MESS....4-5pm will be just as bad as the AM inbound..

Its doable but you will want to learn some shortcuts for your revsere commute coming home in the evening when you're tired...I would say take the Parkway to 79 to 65 to get back into the city....

[Mugatu]

You'd definitely run into traffic. I take the Parkway inbound from Oakdale briefly each morning and exit at the I79 interchange. I often see the outbound lanes backed up from past I79 to the Robinson interchange in the mornings, and the inbound lanes are backed up in the same area during the evening rush. Then you'll hit the second bottleneck near the tunnels. I'm guessing you're looking at a 45-60 minute commute each way. The airport corridor is second only to downtown in numbers of business in the area, so there's definitely many people doing the reverse commute.

What part of Oakdale will you be working in? The mailing address of "Oakdale" covers a pretty broad area.

[greg42]

Yeah, unfortunately that's the one direction where a reverse commute won't help a lot. The Parkway West and Ft Pitt Tunnel back up in both directions at both rush hours. It is a little less backup, perhaps, in the reverse direction, but it's not free flowing. If you were commuting to, say, Cranberry, you could pretty much fly right through on the Parkway North.

Keep in mind that Regent Square is also on the outside of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, so you have that problem as well (either getting around it or through it).

[Rodeno]

I wish there was a city neighborhood that you could live in and travel outside the city to the west, north and south without major headaches everyday. I am moving to the Pittsburgh area and June and I believe I'm going to be relegated to living in the middle of ****ing nowhere with nothing to do, because my job requires me to travel every ****ing day.

[Copanut]

You're screwed, twice.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Yeah, Parkway West gets crushed both ways every day. I drove that every day in a reverse commute and it was not fun. Driving home took over an hour sometimes even though it was "against" traffic.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by Rodeno

I wish there was a city neighborhood that you could live in and travel outside the city to the west, north and south without major headaches everyday. I am moving to the Pittsburgh area and June and I believe I'm going to be relegated to living in the middle of ****ing nowhere with nothing to do, because my job requires me to travel every ****ing day.

There is one neighborhood, and it's called Downtown

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

There is one neighborhood, and it's called Downtown

The lower Northside too. I can go in any direction in the morning without much hassle.

[erbfarm]

wow, thanks for all of the info. I guess I'll have to save living in the city for someday when I get a job in the city. <long sigh> I guess I'm back to looking at Carnegie and Bridgeville and Dormont for locations then as the commute would be much shorter and I can avoid the Parkway if need be.