Before the upcoming closure of the Parkway East(opens in new window), many Pittsburgh commuters are already feeling the stress.
Beginning July 10, the I-376 Parkway East will close in both directions between the Edgewood/Swissvale interchange and the Squirrel Hill Tunnel for approximately 25 days while crews replace the Commercial Street Bridge. The disruption is expected to affect roughly 100,000 daily vehicles(opens in new window) and create significant congestion along detour routes and surrounding roads.
For David Creswell(opens in new window), a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University who studies stress and resilience, commuting in traffic is a perfect example of a hallmark of stress: the lack of predictability and control.
“These sort of mismatches between what we’re expecting versus what’s actually happening really drive a lot of the machinery of one’s psychological and biological stress responses,” Creswell said.
Research has long linked commuting with elevated stress levels, Creswell said. He pointed to a landmark study(opens in new window) of rail commuters traveling to New York that found longer commute times were associated with higher levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress. The study also found that commuters performed worse on a proofreading task after longer trips.
“Not only are you seeing this elevation of stress levels, but you’re seeing that it has real consequences in terms of people’s ability to perform,” Creswell said.
While an unexpected traffic jam can leave drivers feeling trapped and frustrated, Creswell said the Parkway East closure differs in one important way: Pittsburghers know it is coming.
“In the lead up to the closure, public officials have done a great job signaling to the community that this is going to be a major disruption. The degree that they’re planning ahead could turn this major 25-day event from an uncontrollable stressor to something that feels at least predictable. That gives us the ability to respond more effectively,” he said.
More of a human coordination problem than an infrastructure problem
The stress of the Parkway East closure will not be limited to the time people spend sitting in traffic. Sarah Fox(opens in new window), an assistant professor in CMU’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, said that major traffic disruptions also create a hidden layer of coordination work for drivers, bus riders, transit operators, employers and families trying to keep daily life moving.
“For bus riders, a disruption like the Parkway East closure means constantly recalculating — checking apps, adjusting childcare plans, messaging employers and figuring out backup routes. Transit operators are doing a parallel form of that work at a much larger scale. They’re adapting to changing traffic conditions while also helping hundreds of people navigate uncertainty and maintain their daily routines,” she said.
Commuters should give transit workers as much grace as they can, Fox said.
“What looks like a traffic problem is really a collective effort to coordinate daily life under uncertain conditions. The stress comes not just from delays, but from all of the invisible cognitive and emotional work required to keep people, schedules and expectations aligned.”
How to prepare for the stress of the Parkway East closure
When traffic grinds to a halt, Creswell recommends that people focus on what is still in their power.
“You can’t control the traffic, but you can reach out to your bosses and others and communicate what the challenges are,” he said. “You can control your ability to decide how you want to respond to this event.”
One strategy comes from Creswell’s research on mindfulness(opens in new window). Rather than fight feelings of frustration, he suggests commuters acknowledge them, so they don’t take over the rest of the day.
“Allow yourself to feel frustrated, note that you feel frustrated and what that makes you think about,” Creswell said. “And then, to some extent, let it go.”
For people who find themselves dwelling on the disruption long after they leave their cars, journaling can also help.
“For folks who notice that they’re really spiraling, if you’re dreading your life and taking it out on your loved ones, there are simple strategies like journaling and expressive writing,” Creswell said. “They allow you to process these experiences, try to understand them and look at them from different perspectives.”
He also encouraged commuters to rethink how they use the extra time they’ll likely spend in traffic.
“There can be little ways you can wrestle back some sense of control and predictability,” Creswell said. “Pick out some new podcasts or books that you haven’t read and say, ‘My gridlock time is actually going to be my time for doing something that I really enjoy.'”
Drivers might listen to an audiobook they’ve been meaning to start, he said, or use hands-free calling to reconnect with friends and family.
Those small shifts won’t eliminate the inconvenience of a longer commute. But by focusing on what they can control, Creswell said drivers may find the closure easier to navigate — both on the road and in their minds.
“Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The institution was originally established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical School. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology and began granting four-year degrees.”
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