Parkway East's new Commercial Street Bridge reopens ahead of schedule

The Parkway East's brand-new Commercial Street Bridge reopened Monday evening, a week ahead of schedule.

Both directions reopened around 7:20 p.m. on Monday. The closure, which detoured about 100,000 drivers a day, was scheduled to last through Aug. 3. Contractors worked quickly, incentivized by a $2 million bonus paid out if the Parkway reopened before 12:01 a.m. on July 28. 

"It will be magic," Gov. Josh Shapiro said with a laugh when asked how reopening the bridge will work. "It will just happen. No, PennDOT engineers and others, and the team here, law enforcement, everybody's got a plan on how to escort that first traffic through, and then it will just flow." 

Now that the Parkway East is back open, drivers will be going through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel for the first time in more than two weeks.  

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis shared a message for motorists, joking, "If we can try, hit the gas when you get closer to the tunnel. Don't slow down. That will change the traffic pattern in the region."

Leaders laud project's quick progression

The closure began on July 10, though work had begun long before as crews built the new bridge alongside the old. The bridge was demolished on July 16, and after that, the new bridge was slid into place, moving 96 feet in seven hours. 

"This bridge, this slide that took place to get this bridge in place is the largest known structure to slide in place in the United States of America, and it's right here, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania," Shapiro said. 

While the closure lasted for days, PennDOT said it was the preferable option to years of lane closures and restrictions. 

"When you think about the delays that would have been experienced by the region with the traditional delivery of this project, as the governor said, about four years' worth of orange cones and cattle chutes, and to distill that down to 17 days —  I know that that had some effect on the region with respect to traffic and detours — but the reality is, 17 days for me is a far superior trade than four years' worth of chutes and orange cones," said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. 

For all of last week, PennDOT was hesitant to say the Parkway would reopen before midweek. It took until Sunday for them to make the call about Monday. The main concerns were weather and any equipment malfunctions.

Commercial Street still closed as crews clean up 

Commercial Street, which is below the bridge, is still expected to reopen on Aug. 3. People living in Pittsburgh's Swisshelm Park neighborhood said while they're excited the new Commercial Street Bridge is opening early, they're waiting for crews to reopen the street itself.

"We're happy about the Parkway and being able to get on at different ramps now and getting off hopefully at Braddock Avenue without too much confusion anymore," resident Vicki Yann said. 

The sounds of construction on the Parkway East have echoed in Yann's backyard for nearly a month. She and her neighbors have been hearing them at all hours of the day.

"It's been loud," Yann said. "It's been smelly. It's been dusty."

Even though the Parkway didn't close until July 10, Commercial Street closed June 29. It's been taking an extra 10 to 15 minutes for Yann to get to work Downtown since then. And they're not exactly done yet with the noise, smells and detours, as workers are not prepared to reopen Commercial Street just yet.

"You got to remember, all that debris fell onto Commercial and they cleaned out where the footers were for the new bridge first," Yann said. "That was their priority, and then everything else is secondary." 

Yann prays crews get the street reopened as expected.

"The bridge is great, and I'm looking forward to seeing a beautiful new bridge when we drive down underneath it to go to work once Commercial's open," Yann said.