Parkway East expected to reopen by the middle of next week with replacement of Commercial Street Bridge

The Parkway East is expected to reopen by the middle of next week as PennDOT has replaced the Commercial Street Bridge outside of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. 

Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll touted the project as a "stunning achievement" on Wednesday during a briefing at the site of the bridge replacement. 

"We will have completed this project and opened the Parkway in less than three weeks," Carroll said. 

Carroll said that crews will continue working around the clock and that he looks forward to the bridge being opened "as soon as possible." 

PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang said that crews are "rapidly continuing" the work that needs done in order to have the bridge ready to open by next week. 

Earlier this week, PennDOT announced that things were on track for an early opening, just over 24 hours after crews began sliding the new 22-million pound bridge into place. The bridge was fully moved into place Monday morning. 

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 August 3.

The lanes of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel have also been repaved and will be inspected as part of this major project.