Fern Hollow Bridge reopens after final touches
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - On Friday, the city announced the good news that the Fern Hollow Bridge was officially reopened after its closure last month for some finishing touches.
After a whirlwind year and a half, the Fern Hollow Bridge is back in service and reopened to the public.
On Friday, with a click of the keys, the city announced on Facebook that Frick Park's Fern Hollow Bridge was officially reopened, and many who use the bridge are happy.
"It's the best. I mean, we had a tease for the last couple of months where we just had the one lane, and it was just great to get back and forth into Frick Park. Now that everything is open, we have the artwork here, and it's just great to have it back," said Regent Square's Josh Steiner.
Of course, the bridge collapsed in January 2022 due to issues stemming from water drainage and metal deterioration.
But, with a Herculean construction effort, the bridge was rebuilt and partially reopened to traffic just before Christmas last year. After its latest closure with all major work completed, the bridge and the park pathway below are now open.
Bill James and his wife Elizabeth, along with their four-month-old, Tommy, were out for their inaugural walk as a family Saturday morning across the Fern Hollow Bridge. Bill says, as a frequent user of the bridge, he is grateful.
"I am just appreciative of all the people who put the hard effort into designing the bridge and also building it under such a short time frame. I think it is a great testament to those both in the design and laboring community as well as those in politics as well. They were able to pull together and make a great impact for our community," James added.
During the month the bridge was closed, crews did everything from milling and paving to putting down new pavement markings to making artistic enhancements on the bridge.
They also connected the bridge sidewalks to the park below with a newly constructed pathway on the western side of the span.
The only real construction left for the bridge will be installing a pedestrian crosswalk on the western side of the bridge.
The mayor's office said that construction should be completed sometime in the fall.
