On Potomac Avenue, a former vintage shop became an Italian grocery and sandwich counter in about eight months. At Dormont Junction, the Red Line station first came up in community planning meetings in 2018. Under Pittsburgh Regional Transit's current plan, construction finishes in spring 2029. Dormont Park and the park-and-ride lot are both somewhere between those two speeds. Knowing which clock each project runs on tells you which parts of your daily routine will change next year and which ones won't change for several years.
Eight Months on Potomac Avenue
Anthony Badamo moved Badamo's Pizza from Mt. Lebanon to 1509 Potomac Ave. in 2023. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he started converting the former vintage store next door in February 2026 and was aiming for a September opening. The Pittsburgh Business Times reported the opening on Oct. 8. It described a sandwich counter with more than a dozen options plus a curated grocery next to the pizzeria.
The new shop has its own name and address, and they're easy to mix up. According to The Pittsburgh Wire, Badamo Family Grocery & Sandwich Shop is at 1511 Potomac Ave., with a different phone number from the pizzeria at 1509. The Wire found Italian combos, porchetta, meatball and vegetable-and-mozzarella sandwiches on the menu. At its Oct. 13 check, the Regina Italian Combo was $16.79. The shop also sells pantry goods, including olive oil, tomato products and dried pasta, and has separate deli, bread and soup sections.
Most of the work happened where customers can't see it. The Post-Gazette reported that a shared prep area behind the two storefronts was rezoned as a commissary kitchen, with a large dough room and a new bread oven. Badamo developed a hoagie roll from semolina, bread flour and poolish, some topped with sesame seeds and some plain. "It's going to be our take. We're not trying to mimic Philly," he told the Post-Gazette.
So one owner, one building and one rezoning took a storefront from plan to open in under a year. Compare that with the station.
Dormont Junction's Clock Started in 2018
According to PRT's May 2026 public-meeting presentation, Dormont Junction began in the early 1900s as the junction of two private rail lines. The current station was built in 1985 during the first stage of the light rail project, and the station area planning process started in 2018. The presentation also lists what needs repair: concrete cracks and spalling, corroded steel canopy columns, and sidewalk and ADA ramps. Some concrete was patched and painted in 2024.
The design is now done. PRT's project page says final designs were shown at a May 28 community meeting. The project goes out to bid this fall, PRT wants its Board to approve a contractor this winter, and construction is expected to start in spring 2027. Here's how the May presentation phases the work:
| Period | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Final design, Dormont Borough permits, contractor bidding, PRT Board approval, notice to proceed |
| Spring 2027 to spring 2028 | Inbound platform closed for construction and adjacent sitework |
| Spring 2028 to spring 2029 | Outbound platform closed for construction and adjacent sitework |
| Spring 2029 | Construction complete |
PRT's summer update gives only the spring 2027 start, so treat the platform windows above as the May plan, not a locked schedule. The finished station will have a frosted-glass canopy covering the full platform, a new fare booth and fare machines, wind screens, benches, new stairs and ramps, and bike racks. The platform also shifts south, which adds a driveway and removes seven parking spaces. Combined with a Station Square project, the budget is about $14 million. That includes $500,000 in congressionally directed funding from Rep. Chris Deluzio, and the rest comes from PRT's capital budget.
What Two Years of Single Track Looks Like at Raleigh Avenue
Each phase closes one platform, and trains share the other one. Here's what PRT's presentation says to expect:
- Service continues through most of the project on a single track. That adds a few minutes of delay while one train waits for another to clear.
- Riders going both directions board and get off on the same platform. Signs at the station will show where to stand.
- Scheduled outages will still be needed, and shuttle buses will run to and from nearby stations when they happen.
- Most work will happen from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- The contractor may close the street or restrict lanes or parking on Raleigh Avenue between Tolma Avenue and Williams Way. Affected neighbors will get advance notice.
The station isn't the only rail work on the calendar. The same presentation lists a Mt. Lebanon Tunnel rail replacement in 2027, running from Mt. Lebanon Station through Raleigh Avenue, with several single-track periods of four to five weeks each. Because the tunnel work is state-of-good-repair maintenance, it takes priority over the station project. Red Line riders got a preview this summer. PRT closed part of the Red Line from July 6 through July 12 to replace the Alabama and Hillsdale Avenue crossings.
The Park-and-Ride Lot Runs Slower Still
Next to the station, the PRT park-and-ride and the borough parking lot are moving more slowly than the station itself. On June 1, Dormont Borough Council voted 6-0 for Resolution 11-2026, which authorizes an exclusive negotiation agreement with PRT and developer Pennrose LLC. The borough's Dormont Junction TOD page says the agreement also covers the Falbo Group. It describes the vote as the start of a process to decide whether a project near the station is feasible at all.
The next step is to negotiate that agreement's terms and sign it. As proposed, it would last at least six months and up to 24 months unless both PRT and Council extend it. According to the borough, questions about parking spaces, housing units, traffic and municipal services will be answered during a design process that includes community input. PRT's May presentation says plainly that the project has not been designed. At Council's Sept. 8 meeting, the TOD proposal was reported as unchanged with no activity underway. The borough lists no project items on October agendas. For anyone who parks there today, the lot's long-term future depends on a design that doesn't exist yet.
Dormont Park Sits Between the Two Speeds
The Next Generation Playground in Dormont Park is the project closest to construction. According to the project's website, it replaces the old Castle Playground, which was decommissioned over safety concerns. Funding comes partly from the Dormont Park Sustainability Fund, which Borough Council created in 2024 and which takes tax-deductible donations.
The schedule has already slipped once. The borough's Winter 2025 newsletter planned construction for summer 2026. A July 20, 2026 planning document moved that to the second half of 2026. The Phase 1 notice to bidders set the bid deadline at 10 a.m. on Oct. 22. It splits the work into site construction, an optional retaining wall and entry plaza, hillside play equipment, community engagement, and electrical work. The mandatory pre-bid meeting was held at the pool parking lot on Oct. 1.
The money has come from several sources:
- A $685,000 federal grant, recorded in Council minutes. The bid notice says the project is partly funded by a DCNR Land and Water Conservation Fund grant.
- A $100,000 Local Share Account grant for playground surfacing.
- A $100,000 Allegheny County GEDTF award for the Next Generation Playground Pavilion, listed in the county's 2025 award list. The borough had asked for $251,800.
A preliminary estimate presented to the borough, summarized by Citizen Portal, put Phase 1 at about $1.662 million and the full master plan at just under $4 million. The bids will set the actual Phase 1 price. Later phases in the plan add a pavilion, a green with a stage, and a trail system. That puts the park on a middle clock. Its plan has moved from a target season to an open bid within a year, while the station's plan took eight years to reach the same point.
The Last Season Before the Platforms Close
That puts this holiday season at a useful point. Trick-or-treating in Dormont is Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. Last year, Home for the Holidays took over Potomac Avenue on Saturday, Dec. 6, right after the 10 a.m. parade. The borough hasn't posted a 2026 date yet, so watch its events calendar. If PRT keeps the May phasing, the next holiday season will have trains sharing a single platform at Dormont Junction and a construction schedule set for Raleigh Avenue. This year, the Red Line runs normally, the park-and-ride is unchanged, and the sandwich counter at 1511 Potomac is already open.
If you're weighing a sale or purchase near the Red Line, a multi-year station rebuild is something to understand ahead of time. The Bingham Team follows Dormont's station, park and Potomac Avenue projects as they move from bid to construction. Get your free home valuation, and we'll walk you through what's scheduled near your street.
