Examining the available images at the link, the straight lines are the result of pavement parting at seams created by when the pavement was laid down (the machines that lay the surfacing material lay a strip roughly a lane wide). If there is an electrical vault and gas lines beneath, there was a structural failure in the subsurface construction which may or may not be related to natural processes.
Thanks for the explanation. You know more about this stuff than I. Actually, I was thinking the cause might be a water main break or underground pipe burst The City of Pittsburgh has an antiquated water system. Used to have water main breaks only in winter; now it's year round. And that's on top of periodic problems with the water itself, necessitating boil water advisories and sometimes shutoffs. No money and no desire to fix the system or to upgrade it. At one point it was suggested that the city transfer responsibility for the water system to a private company, but the powers that be put the kabosh on that idea. Where I live in the 'burbs, we have a private water company which keeps our water and the mains and pipelines in top condition.
And yes, the street is probably in bad shape. Pittsburgh, like most of Pennsylvania, has awful roads. When they fix or build a road, they use the cheapest materials they can find. Roads are always being dug up and fixed, but a few months later, they have to be fixed again. Sometimes when there is no money, a bad road can be in disrepair for months or years.
it will be interesting to see and hear what the investigators determine as the cause.