Commercial Street reopens after weekslong closure tied to Parkway East bridge project

Some exciting news for drivers: Commercial Street is open again. It had been closed for weeks due to the Parkway East bridge project and ensuing cleanup.

Commercial Street is a major road for the neighbors in Squirrel Hill and Swisshelm Park, but it's also a detour for people avoiding the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. Neighbors are happy it opened on schedule since it was not as big a priority as the bridge for the Parkway.

Since June 29, the road had been closed, and detour signs have been a staple in the Swisshelm Park and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods.

"We can finally be free," Swisshelm Forward member Vicki Yann said.

During the setup, demolition of the old bridge, moving the new one into place and now cleanup, it's been a waiting game. Due to navigation apps giving people the wrong directions, drivers have been coming into the residential neighborhood lost. In the past week, with the Parkway East opened, that has stopped.

"So, we really haven't had too much increase in lost people around here or people zooming through the neighborhood trying to get out of here," Yann said.

With school starting in a few weeks, neighbors are glad to see this project should have no impact on getting children to school. What would normally be a 10-minute drive would be close to a half hour if the road were still closed.

"Traffic once school starts is astronomical. It delays everything," Yann said of the school traffic.

For the past couple of weeks, PennDOT said the work would be done on Aug. 3. That day is here, and it did as it said.

"We're really excited that our trials and tribulations are over until something else happens," Yann said.

In addition to the road reopening, the Nine Mile Run trail has also reopened.