Parkway East to officially reopen Monday evening, officials say
The Parkway East will officially reopen on Monday, July 27, PennDOT officials have confirmed to KDKA-TV.
The announcement comes as workers successfully replaced the Commercial Street Bridge outside of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel early last week.
The opening is ahead of schedule after crews demolished the old Commercial Street Bridge and began sliding the new 22-million-pound bridge into place. The bridge was fully moved into place on July 20.
A press conference is scheduled for Monday, where officials are expected to share more information. The exact time of the reopening is not yet known.
Contractors incentivized to finish ahead of schedule
The closure was initially expected to last 25 days, with a tentative reopening date of Aug. 3. If contractors got the Parkway reopened before 12:01 a.m. on July 28, they were slated to receive a $2 million bonus.
"We will have completed this project and opened the Parkway in less than three weeks," Carroll said last week. "I am not a civil engineer, but you don't have to be one to appreciate what has already been accomplished here," Carroll said.
The Parkway East has been closed between the Edgewood/Swissvale and Squirrel Hill interchanges during all this work, including the demolition of the old bridge.
While the closure is in effect, traffic is being detoured via multiple routes, and so far, the traffic impacts have remained minimal. The closure impacts a section of the Parkway that sees about 100,000 cars a day.
As for Commercial Street itself, that is not expected to open early. PennDOT hopes to get that connector cleared up and opened by Aug. 3.
Residents amazed by turnaround
Many who spoke with KDKA-TV on Sunday shared similar feelings of relief, excitement or amazement at the quick turnaround time since the Parkway's closure.
KDKA-TV's crew saw no pavement markings and machinery remaining on the roadway, but PennDOT believes it is nearing the end of the project.
"It is relief. It's absolutely relief," Amy Raslevich said. "I am stunned, first of all, that they're opening early. The fact that they've done it so quickly ahead of schedule amazes me. I'm really impressed."
"Oh, it's super. It's amazing. The work that they did to flip this thing around is really impressive," Paul Diegelman said.
"Hopefully, (the workers) get a bonus," Sigi Loya said.
Commutes have been longer for many over the past few weeks.
"You better have your eight-track tape ready to go because you're going to be sitting in traffic for a while," Loya added.
But others said the detours and feared traffic backups weren't as bad as what actually transpired.
"It was significantly easier than I think we were led to believe it could be, right? It kind of reminded me of the NFL draft. Downtown was going to be closed, clogged, dead, and instead, the place was wide open, and you could simply drive around. This really wasn't that difficult to deal with, and I live in Squirrel Hill," Diegelman added.
Some neighbors in the neighborhood that overlooks the bridge say they will even miss the quiet.
"It's mixed feelings because we've enjoyed the lack of traffic," Sigi said.
"But I'm excited that there's going to be something safer and that's actually going to be able to handle the traffic pressure of Pittsburgh better," Raslevich added.
