Following early opening, more work still expected on Parkway East and Commercial Street Bridge
Even as the relief washed over western Pennsylvania when the Commercial Street Bridge replacement project was completed early, there is still plenty to be done.
With new high-friction surfaces outside of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, new pavement inside the tunnels, and the new bridge in Edgewood, there's still plenty to come during the $100 million project near the new bridge.
"We are by no means done," said John Myler, PennDOT Senior Assistant Construction Manager. "This is a $100 million rehabilitation project."
That project extends from the brand-new bridge to the Churchill interchange, and there is still so much to do.
"We still have bridge rehabilitation with expansion dams, approach slabs, latex overlays, bridge painting, and then the median barrier replacements," Myler said.
Myler said that as that work continues, there will be lane restrictions, but nothing like what drivers experienced during the bridge replacement.
"They will be limited to single-lane restrictions at night and on weekends," he said.
The work will continue into next year, but the bridge itself and the approach are mostly done.
"In about a month, we'll be back to do some work out there, and that will be nighttime or weekend restrictions in the area," Myler said.
The thing that drivers will be relieved to hear, however, is that most of the work that would've led to major inconveniences was done during the Parkway East closure.
As for the now former detour routes, at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the traffic signals were returned to the pre-detour timing, which is a relief to those who live along those routes.
