Fort Pitt Tunnel

Another magnificent landmark in one of the most beautiful cities in the United States. I truly love Pittsburgh with all of the gorgeous bridges and The Fort Pitt Tunnel welcoming you to the city. It is a remarkable structure.
Matthew U. said it best…“The Fort Pitt Tunnel is Pittsburgh“s Front Door.” Why plagiarize… I can’t say it any better than that. Give that man a standing O… slow clap…

Up really late… This is bullshit!
Went through a tunnel… at night, and suddenly «welcome to Pittsburgh»… The lights of the city were spread out… seemed like all around… came in through the Fort Pitt tunnel… The Fort Pitt Tunnel is west of downtown on Parkway West…

This tunnel is a big, giant WELCOME HOME. ’nuff said!

This is an excellent tunnel. Yes, I’m serious. Here’s why.
First, how many big metros even have a tunnel? Exactly.
Next, emerging from this tunnel into downtown is a bit of an event. You enter on an almost rural interstate highway and pop out downtown.
As a tunnel, this horizontal hole also serves a great function, permitting continuous traffic flow under Mount Washington. If you don’t like it, stop to contemplate your alternatives.

Huh. So we can add this tunnel to my list of «oddball topics I’ve written Unilocal reviews about.»
Also: 5 stars, really?
Like, I appreciate that the skyline when you head downtown is beautiful. But… honestly, how are you guys finding time between driving your car safely out of the tunnels and between lanes to appreciate that skyline?
That’s a serious question. During most of the day and some evenings depending on what’s happening in the city, if you try to head downtown via this tunnel you inevitability have to deal with four lanes of traffic try to merge into two, resulting in constant slowdowns made worse by the locals who suddenly slam on their breaks as soon as they enter the tunnel because… uh, I really don’t know why. It’s one of da ‘Burgh’s greatest mysteries. Then when you exit, you have about 300 feet to merge from one of your two lanes into one of four that you need — god forbid if you need the one on the far left or right and you’re on the other side! Navigating traffic and avoiding being hit is a daily nightmare as I try to get to work, which is why you will never see me check into this tunnel on a daily basis even though I pass through them every day — I’m a bit busy saving my neck and keeping my car in one piece.
So, seriously, how do any of you have time to enjoy the skyline after dealing with the nightmare of trying not to hit every other driver who’s ALSO trying to merge between lanes? It’s a complete nightmare. NOT a five star experience at all.
Also, any reviews about the skyline conveniently ignore that lots of us use this tunnel to go in the other direction, which just repeats the merging traffic nightmare I mentioned above… and boy, I sure hope you’re not one of the poor people trying to go to the airport who’s gotten stuck in a line of traffic BACK TO THIS TUNNEL. The miles of traffic are not the kind of view you came here to enjoy, I’m sure.
These tunnels are a necessary evil in my book, and I never look forward to dealing with them. Enjoy your skyline — don’t hit me as you do, please!

I read recently that people call coming into the city through the Fort Pitt Tunnels as a Yinzgasm. And I can see it… or maybe more so I have seen it. It’s what makes sitting in the horrible backed up traffic so worth it.
I would say that this is Pittsburgh’s front door. If people call Point State Park our welcoming mat, this has to be the city’s front door. It’s like the city of Pittsburgh is saying, «Hello, welcome to City of Bridges. Named the ‘Best Place to Live’ several times.»
I’m sure anyone visiting this city for the first time are very impressed when they come here from the airport. It’s one asset that we are lucky to have.

After a ride through the dirty tunnel, the Pittsburgh skyline will take your breath away every time.

Not too long ago, I worked in Green Tree (no this isnt deja-​vu of another review, I’ve literally worked everywhere!)
As much as I disliked that call center job and the traffic on the way home, I always made sure to appreciate ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ — or in this case the view at the end of the tunnel.
It’s so amazing and something I always look forward too. We are so lucky to have that unexpected, breathtaking view of our city! «The city with an entrance!»

I am convinced that Dr. Seuss himself must have planned the insane network of overpasses leading from this tunnel into this lovely city, but I must say that the breathtaking view of the city, particularly at night-​time, is a «top 10» sight for my list. (This view is so nice, that we are actively seeking out a great night photo of downtown from Mt. Washington that we can have nicely framed and centered in our living room.)
The tunnel itself is awesome, old-​school style, as it’s a square tile-​lined chute that propels visitors into this great city as they arrive from the airport. No, it’s not bare walled concrete BS that most tunnels are styled in; it’s the beautiful, «we need to make this tunnel clean, aesthetic, and practical,» style. Kindo of like in «the Matrix.» Remeber when the Cohen Brothers made that s**t look incredible? Yeah, the Fort Pitt Tunnel is that, only ‘Burgh style. I love it!
I can’t remember a single person who’s come to visit us that wasn’t completely «wow-​ed» by the awesome introduction to the ‘Burgh.
Yeah, so even though I could sneak across the Ohio River on I-​79 instead to get home after a long trip, I always opt for this route, just to say «Hi» to this awesome city once again. It’s always worth it!

First, I think it is crazy that people have posted reviews about a tunnel, but since I saw them, I figured I mine as well add my comments.
I think the traffic engineer who designed the tunnel didn’t live in reality because too many lanes of traffic merge and there are always back ups. What they did get right was creating a real entrance to the city.
I joked that they should post a warning sign in the tunnel for unsuspecting motorists that says something like «warning: the end of this tunnel opens to a remarkable view of the downtown Pittsburgh» Or maybe part of what makes it so special is the surprise element.
Whether you are entering the city for the first time or you are on your way home, you get an exquisite view that almost makes waiting in the inevitable traffic worth it.

(1) Whoever was the traffic engineer that designed two major highways merging onto a two lane tunnel was not a very forward thinking individual who’d take into account ever increasing car-​traffic. They must be related to the traffic engineers that designed Settler’s Ridge.
(2) No matter how bad traffic can get, the sights are simply breath taking. When you’re driving into town and you come across that tunnel… you come into the skyline at just the perfect distance. Far enough to see it all, but close enough where you know it’s a unique «first-​view» of a city.

Another Pittsburgh landmark, this is the tunnel that allows the city to have an entrance.
Coming east from 376, you pass the rolling hills with no sign of tall buildings, rivers, or bridges, all synonymous with Pittsburgh. Then you going through the 3100 foot Fort Pitt Tunnels and on the east end of the tunnel Pittsburgh appears in front of you as you cross the Fort Pitt Bridge.
Boring of this tunnel started in 1958, the tunnel opened Sept, 1, 1960. 170,000 vehicles pass through these tunnels daily.

Is there anything more inspiring, more dramatic than seeing our metropolitan skyline as you arrive into Pittsburgh via the Fort Pitt Tunnel, the Liberty Tunnel’s younger and more beautiful sister? She looks radiant for 50, her Southern and Northern marblestone faces glowing in the sunshine, smoldering after dark.
To take a ride through the Fort Pitt Tunnel going inbound towards Downtown Pittsburgh is to know joy. The tiles on the walls glisten, the lights above you race until they become a single stream of energy, and before you know it, you have officially arrived… in more ways than one.
As strange as this might sound, I’ve always found traveling through this tunnel, also carved into Mt. Washington, to be somewhat thrilling, like I’m being hurled into a portal that leads into the future. After three decades of living in Pittsburgh, The Fort Pitt Tunnel still impresses me, fascinates me, and rejuvenates my appreciation for my hometown.
My only wish is that motorists would stop slowing down as they approach it. There’s no traffic light to hold people up, yet they crawl into the tunnel as if they’re riding on the backs of frightened mules.