Washington Boulevard undamaged by flooding, reopens to traffic
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Pittsburgh reopened Washington Boulevard on Thursday night after clearing the heavily-traveled road of debris left behind by flooding, a city official said.
Officials initially believed the road was severely damaged during a heavy storm Thursday and thought the road would be closed indefinitely.
Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said public works crews found the pavement intact after the water drained off.
“There was a lot of debris, and it was feared there was damage to the road, but crews went out and looked at it, and it wasn’t damaged,” he said.
Two cars were trapped in the flood water Thursday, but no injuries were reported.
The boulevard for decades has been plagued by flash flooding caused by water draining from adjacent steep hillsides. Four people drowned in 2011 after being stranded in their vehicles at the intersection with Allegheny River Boulevard.
Pittsburgh has since installed flood gates designed to stop traffic from entering the low section of road when rainfall reaches high levels.
Mayor Bill Peduto on Thursday said the flood gates worked properly during the storm.