It’s marathon weekend in Pittsburgh. This year marks the first time the annual Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon returns in person since the pandemic made the event virtual in 2020 and 2021. Smaller racing events will take place Saturday and the big event comes on Sunday, but some road closures begin Friday.
Road closures will be combined with traffic from a Saturday NFL draft party at Heinz Field on the North Shore, the Sunday commencement for the University of Pittsburgh’s class of 2022 in Oakland and the Pirates hosting the Padres at PNC Park on the North Shore all weekend. Navigating the city is going to be a lot more difficult. Here’s the lowdown on what will be closed:.
Friday closures
Downtown closures take effect at noon Friday along the Boulevard of the Allies between Wood Street and Stanwix Street and remain in place through Sunday’s final races.
Saturday closures
The closures Saturday will mainly affect Downtown, the North Shore and part of the North Side for the 5K race, the kids marathon and the toddler trot. All Saturday-specific closures will begin at 6:45 a.m. and should end around 1:15 p.m. According to Pittsburgh Public Safety officials, the course allows North Shore parking lots to remain open and accessible.
Those parking lots will be needed for fans heading to Heinz Field for the Steelers' annual draft party, which begins at noon. The Steelers are asking fans to enter Heinz Field through the FedEx Center gate along Art Rooney Avenue.
Here’s a map of Saturday’s race-related road closures:
Sunday closures
The largest number of road closures will take effect Sunday as the marathon course charges 26.2 miles through a dozen neighborhoods including the South Side, North Side, Oakland, Shadyside, Homewood, Highland Park, Friendship, Lawrenceville and the Strip District. Closures along the route will begin as early as 1:30 a.m. Sunday, May 1. All closures outside of Downtown will wrap up around 2:30 p.m., according to a statement from marathon organizer P3R.
Streets will reopen on a rolling basis once they have been deemed clear by city officials. Here’s a map of the closures with their estimated times:
Oakland closures could complicate families planning to attend Pitt’s 2022 commencement ceremony, which begins at 2:00 p.m. Sunday at the Petersen Events Center. Motorists will be able to pass through neighborhoods along the race route from the south after about 11:45 a.m. according to the map, but accessing Oakland from the north could be more complicated until later in the afternoon. Some closures don’t end until after 2:00 p.m.
According to Pitt, university garages will be open to the public at 8:00 a.m. and are free to graduates and their guests. The university has published a guide with shuttle information to help graduates plan ahead. Check that out on Pitt’s website here.
Marathon organizers have also laid out alternate routes to help people in and out of the racecourse Sunday. According to the maps below, motorists can take the 6th Avenue exit on I-279 after the Veteran’s Bridge and follow signs for Bigelow Boulevard to get into Oakland from the north. Find more alternate routes to get in and out of the course Sunday here:
Parking will be extremely difficult around downtown and portions of the racecourses this weekend. If you plan to leave downtown during the race event, consider parking your vehicle outside of the area. P3R recommends using the ParkPGH app to find a space.
The city will strictly enforce parking restrictions, and vehicles found parked along the race routes will be towed, according to Pittsburgh public safety director, Lee Schmidt. “Residents along the route should not wait until the last minute to move their vehicles,” he said. “In the event their vehicle is towed, we will assist them by directing them to its location.”
Towing enforcement will begin at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday.
According to the Allegheny County Port Authority, multiple buses will be detoured during the race events. Find a full list of affected routes here.
Spectator course
Some 30,000 people including U.S. Olympians Aliphine Tuliamuk, Jared Ward and Abdi Abdirahman will take part in this weekend’s races. But spectators can also get involved along the bike cheer course drawn up by P3R, BikePGH and Healthy Ride. Cyclists can use the riverfront trails to get to designated “cheer zones” along the bike course. A map of those locations is below:
The Pittsburgh Health & Fitness Expo will also take place Saturday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center downtown. Both race days will wrap up with finish line festivals featuring live music on Saturday and Sunday.
