Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been looking at a lot of homes that require a couple miles on I279 N to places like Ross Township, Bellevue, Avalon, etc... and I have no experience on that side of the rush hour traffic commute. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Generally, out of the major arteries to and from the city, 279 is the least congested, mainly because it is newer, wider, and there are no tunnels. It does get heavy inbound and outbound on the Veteran's Bridge and on the approach and exit ramps on the downtown side, but overall it moves better than other parkways.
If you have the ability to use the HOV lane (2 people in car) it's particularly amazing since there is a ramp that goes right up to where the old arena sits, and you can both exit there in the morning and enter there in the afternoon. This would allow you to bypass the worst of the backup.
If you can't do that (and they do write tickets sometimes, more often recently, so I wouldn't recommend risking driving it alone, but I'm sure some still do) you would presumably be contending with the Veterans Bridge backup, which is pretty rough. It narrows down to one lane before merging onto 279 so can back up all the way across. It's not quite as bad in the morning but instead there is backup through the East St area. Without the HOV you would exit from the Veterans Bridge at 6th Ave where you can take a left up towards the arena.
If you're looking at Bellevue or Avalon your (non-HOV) commute might be quicker using Rt 65 (depending upon where in those boroughs the house is). From arena area, go down to Grant and make a right. Then make a left on 11th at the bus station. Use the 10th Street Bypass (straight ahead on 11th then curves to the left, then stay in the right lane) to get yourself onto the Ft Duquesne Bridge. Then you have to merge over left to get onto Rt 65. Avoid the McKees Rocks left-turning traffic by staying in the right lane. Not bad at all. In the morning, Rt 65 backs up at that McKees Rocks Bridge light where you might have to wait through about 3 cycles of the light or more, depending upon when you drive in.
How long it takes depends upon where exactly you start from. Allowing for traffic and not getting to use the HOV, you'll probably need to allow about 30 min from some spots unless you're starting from very near the highway. It may not take that long a lot of days, especially summers and especially Fridays in the summer when there typically is no rush hour at all on 279.
If your on ramp is Camp Horne Rd instead of Union Ave (Bellevue/West View) then you can run into a bit more congestion at the peak times. There is a backup that makes it as far as Camp Horne because of the 3 lanes to 2 lanes squeeze around the Bellevue exit. So even if your house is in Ben Avon Heights or that area of Ross you might find it quicker or at least simpler to make your way down to the next on ramp instead. It's actually an easy maneuver without going really much out of the way at all.
All in all it's a decent commute to good areas to live and has the benefit of being really quick to the city at non-traffic times.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
