Parkway East on track for "early opening" amid Commercial Street Bridge replacement, PennDOT says

The reopening of the Parkway East amid the replacement of the Commercial Street Bridge is on track for an "early opening," PennDOT said Monday morning.

Crews began slowly sliding the new 22 million-pound Commercial Street Bridge into place Sunday morning, working throughout the day to move the structure nearly entirely into place. PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang said during a press conference Monday that the Parkway East could reopen sometime next week.

"We are actually looking at an early opening," Zang said, noting that the reopening will depend on things like weather conditions.

"No promises just yet, but we are tracking a little bit early right now," Zang added.

However, there is still work to be done before any drivers start traveling over the new bridge. It still needs to be lowered and anchored in place.

"This is going to be a very slow and careful process because we have to get that bridge exactly where we need it to be," Zang said.

The Parkway East has been closed between the Edgewood/Swissvale and Squirrel Hill interchanges so crews could demolish the bridge, which was completed on July 16. 

The closure was initially expected to last 25 days, with a tentative reopening date of August 3.

While the closure is in effect, traffic is being detoured through multiple routes, and so far, the traffic impacts have remained at a minimum. The closure impacts a section of the Parkway that sees about 100,000 cars a day.

As for Commercial Street, that is not expected to open early. PennDOT hopes to get that connector cleared up and opened by Aug 3.

The Squirrel Hill tunnels have been repaved and will be inspected as part of this major project.