Run, or Walk, Across ‘Li’l Bridgey’ in Brighton Heights

PHOTO BY OLLIE GRATZINGER | THE DAVIS AVENUE SIDE OF THE DAVIS AVENUE BRIDGE, WHICH LEADS INTO RIVERVIEW PARK IN BRIGHTON HEIGHTS.

One of Pittsburgh’s newest — and smallest — bridges is already drawing crowds.

The Davis Avenue Bridge in Brighton Heights will host the Li’l Bridgey 5K from 9 to 11 a.m. on May 30. Folks are invited to register online to run or walk the 3.1-mile course, which will begin on the Davis Avenue side of the bridge, head across it into Riverview Park, circle around the Allegheny Observatory and finally loop back around to finish where it started.

“We wanted to make sure that the Davis Avenue Bridge was properly showcased,” says Ben Cole, who co-organized the race along with Patrick Sanders. “The route goes through Riverview Park, which has steep areas and longer declines, no matter which way you go. It’s a challenging course, but we know runners and walkers are going to have a good time with it.”

Cole and Sanders, both Brighton Heights residents, also co-founded the Li’l Swervy Run Club, named after the neighborhood’s comically small roundabout (Seriously, it’s tiny.) The club meets Thursday and Sunday mornings at Legion Park on Brighton Road.

The point of the race, they say, is to get people together to celebrate the bridge and the restored connection it brings to Brighton Heights — and to have fun while doing it.

“The one thing we really wanted to do was to not only bring back a 5K race into the neighborhood, but to also have an event that folks can come out for and simply have a good time,” Cole says. “Most of the people that have registered are based in Brighton Heights and the North Side, so it’s going to be great to see friends out in the park.”

Participants are also able and encouraged to donate to the Freedge, Brighton Height’s community food pantry.

“Making sure our neighbors are able to complete their meals and find ways to help with food scarcity is also something we wanted to accomplish with this race,” Cole adds.

The race is a reimagining of the Brighton Heights 5K, a once-beloved tradition that hasn’t been run in two decades, in large part because of the closure and eventual demolition of the original Davis Avenue Bridge. Organizers hope that the restored connection to the park can also restore local runners’ connection to the sport. 

“There is an older lady named Judy in our neighborhood who is often sporting old race shirts from 20-plus years ago, and the access to the park’s return got us thinking that a renewed 5K might be good,” Sanders says. “Basically, Judy needs a new shirt.”

In its previous iteration, the bridge was a pin-connected, cantilever deck truss constructed in 1898; while the city says it featured ingenuity for its day, it also lacked modern insight into necessary safety and maintenance features and, despite being fully open to cars and trucks, had limited capacity for heavy vehicles. 

During a routine inspection, city officials found that it was in dire condition — so unstable, they said, that it could collapse at any minute. It was consequently imploded in 2009, leaving Brighton Heights without its longtime connector to Riverview Park. The park, which was once just a five-minute walk from Brighton Heights, was now 35 minutes away.

It took 16 years, but the new Davis Avenue Bridge, a pre-rusted pedestrian- and bike-only walkway, reopened in spring of 2025, featuring modern materials and retro aesthetics that pay homage to its Victorian predecessor. 

In its first year, it has emerged as a popular corridor for biking, running, walking or just taking in the sights.

“It’s really amazing that this bridge is one of the smallest in the city, but it really has had such a big impact on the neighborhood. The design of it is breathtaking,” Cole says. “There’s times when I cross it that I have to pause and just take in the moment. I get to see this beautiful view, right in my backyard.”

He adds that the bridge has already done much of what it was supposed to do, and has brought back much of what was missing from Brighton Heights.

“It is connecting us to other neighborhoods and is allowing folks to get out and explore an amazing park,” he says. “Many times on our club runs we pass other runners, bikers and walkers. Everyone is happy that the bridge is there, and it’s definitely getting utilized.”

In lieu of a traditional finishers medal, participants will receive a painted rock. It may seem random, but it actually honors a local tradition that started in the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic.

“During the pandemic, folks in the neighborhood started painting rocks and placing them throughout the neighborhood. It became a great activity and has withstood that era,” Cole says. “We wanted to have that as a nice nod to something that brought the community together.”

There are plenty of rocks to go around.

“Seriously,” Sanders says. “Please take these rocks.”