Pennsylvania Route 885

PA 885 starts in the Wilson section of the city of Clairton at the intersection with State Street (Pennsylvania Route 837). From there, the route runs uphill heading southwest as Walnut Avenue before turning north at the west end of Clairton. Outside the vicinity, the route journeys northwest as Clairton Road while traversing a rural and mountainous region of Allegheny County. PA 885 then travels towards the north while passing through the western regions of the borough of West Mifflin. Shortly after becoming a four-lane undivided highway, it bypasses the former Century III Mall to the East.[1]

PA 885 briefly runs concurrent with Lebanon Church Road (Yellow Belt) before bearing north as Lebanon Road where it passes underneath a runway of Allegheny County Airport. North of the airport, it journeys past elevations of up to 1,200 feet before turning northwest onto Mifflin Road.[1] PA 885 then enters the city of Pittsburgh via the neighborhood of Hays as Ashby Street where it meets Pennsylvania Route 837 at an interchange. Shortly after, it crosses the Monongahela River via the Glenwood Bridge and enters the neighborhood of Hazelwood.[1]

In Hazelwood, PA 885 travels northwest as Second Avenue and Irvine Street. In the northern section of Hazelwood, the route turns onto Greenfield Avenue before running beneath the railroad tracks. From there, PA 885 again becomes Second Avenue and parallels the Monongahela River to the south and the Three Rivers Heritage Trail to the north. Upon entering Oakland, the academic and cultural center of Pittsburgh, the route turns north onto Bates Street and right away has an interchange with Interstate 376 (overlapped with US 22 and US 30). PA 885 follows Bates Street before bearing west onto the Boulevard of the Allies.[1]

PA 885 interchange with PA 837 in Pittsburgh.

The northernmost segment of PA 885 is designated as the Boulevard of the Allies in dedication of the Allies victory in World War I.[2] The route joins the Boulevard less than a mile west of Schenley Park in Oakland.[1] The route embarks across the Southern sectors of Oakland as a four-lane divided highway. As the route journeys west, it meets Interstate 376 and Forbes Avenue at a partial interchange near Birmingham Bridge. PA 885 then travels along a cliff, parallel to both Interstate 376 and the Monongahela River to the south and enters the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Bluff, also known as Uptown. PA 885 also passes to the south of Mercy Hospital and Duquesne University before ending at a partial interchange with Interstate 579 and the Liberty Bridge in Downtown Pittsburgh.[1]