Massive $95M Pittsburgh Bridge Replacement Project Advances

PITTSBURGH, PA — The most notable step yet in the $95 million Parkway East Commercial Street Bridge replacement project will occur Thursday when a city street and key Frick Park bicycle and pedestrian trail are relocated.

PennDOT announced Wednesday that Commercial Street and the Nine Mile Run trail, both located under the parkway span, will be relocated about 150 feet west to allow crews to begin bridge staging preparations. The road and trail will remain in their new locations through the summer of 2026.

One of the region's most heavily traveled bridges and a critical connection between Pittsburgh and its eastern suburbs, the deteriorating Commercial Street Bridge is located between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the parkway's Edgewood-Swissvale exit. It carries more than 100,000 vehicles daily.

Its replacement will require the closure of the parkway for a month in 2026.

The road and trail reconfiguration will allow a new steel span to be built next to the current crumbling one. The current bridge will be demolished and its remains removed from Commercial Street and Frick Park, then the new bridge will be laterally slid onto the parkway's existing alignment.

The Commercial Street and the Nine Mile Run trail relocation will occur at around 3 p.m. Thursday. Bi-directional traffic will be maintained on Commercial, but single-lane alternating traffic controlled by flaggers and full traffic stoppages might occur from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. as crews set up the new road and trail configurations.