PITTSBURGH, PA (April 30, 2020) Mayor William Peduto is set to gradually and safely increase outdoor work by certain City of Pittsburgh staff, starting tomorrow, May 1.
The restart of work by the Departments of Public Works (DPW), Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI), and Permits, Licenses and Inspections (PLI) comes as Governor Tom Wolf is allowing general construction activity to resume starting tomorrow, and for parts of the state to resume other limited activities starting May 8.
“We know our residents and our workforce want life in Pittsburgh to return to normal, but we’re still have a long way to go, with science and data as our guides. In the meantime we have determined it is safe to slowly begin some work, with full protections for our workers in place,” Mayor Peduto said.
City office workers who are currently teleworking will continue to do so until announced otherwise.
In Pittsburgh, outdoor work by City personnel will restart tomorrow with the following health protocols to keep workers safe from the COVID-19 virus:
- Conducting health screenings at the start of each shift
- Modifying work practices to maintain 6 feet of distance between all staff
- Ensuring workers have work gloves and masks or face coverings
- Providing hand washing stations and portable toilets at job sites
- Providing hand sanitizer at job sites
- Regularly sanitizing shared trucks, equipment, etc.
Contractors for DOMI began landslide mitigation projects on Monday, and this week DOMI and PLI have been preparing for the restart of general construction projects.
Starting tomorrow other work will resume, with crews working rotating one week on/one week off schedules that will limit crowding at workplaces and help them manage child care issues.
At DPW work will include:
- Forestry tree removal and pruning
- Street sweeping
- Clean & liens
- Vegetation control and removing downed branches
- Debris removal: sewer grates, bump outs, pools, etc.
- Step repairs
- Board ups
- Parks maintenance
- Pothole patching
- Yard debris drop off locations reopening (Tues-Sat, 7 am-3pm)
- Citywide curbside yard debris pick up (rescheduled for May 16)
At DOMI work will include:
- Line striping maintenance
- Crosswalk and stop bar maintenance
- Sign maintenance
- Signal operations and maintenance
- Paving
- Speed humps
- Handicap ramps
PLI will resume building inspections following Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and City guidelines.
The Department of City Planning will soon begin virtual Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Adjustment meetings as well.
Other City government activities will gradually resume when deemed safe to do so. Announcements on such activities will be made at later dates.
