THE COMMERCIAL STREET BRIDGE ALONG THE PARKWAY EAST, AS OBSERVED FROM SUMMERSET IN SQUIRREL HILL | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

The headaches that motorists will experience when the Parkway East closes for three weeks in July 2026 to replace the Commercial Street Bridge should be a once-in-a-lifetime disruption: The new structure is designed to last 100 years.

The current bridge to be demolished is 73 years old and carries 100,000 motorists a day. It “has reached the end of its useful life,” said Jason Zang, district executive, state Department of Pennsylvania District 11, in a virtual session update for the public this week. PennDOT is overseeing the $95 million project that will be fully funded by the Federal Highway Administration.

It’s a “very ambitious and complex endeavor,” Zang said. 

PennDOT also shared a video that gives a step-by-step demonstration on how a new Arched Delta Frame Bridge will be built beside the current bridge, the demolition of the current bridge, how the new bridge will slide into its place and then the parkway reopened.

Among some of the details:

• The three-week closure is an alternative to what PennDOT officials said would have been four years of lane closures and disruptions on the Monroeville side of the Parkway East near the entrance of the Squirrel Hill tunnels.
• Commercial Street under the bridge will be rerouted for two years to make room for the building of the new bridge.
• The green color of the new steel arched bridge was chosen in a public poll conducted in 2023.  
• In September 2025, there will be nine full overnight closures of the Parkway East to accommodate delivery of the new bridge’s steel beams. Instead of having the beams driven through local neighborhoods to get to lower Frick Park where the bridge will be built, the beams will be lowered from the top of the parkway’s Commercial Street Bridge, said Michelle Olszewski, construction senior project manager for contractor Fay S&B USA.
• All trees removed during construction will be replaced and park streams will be restored to be in better shape than they are now, said Nick Burdette, senior bridge engineer for the Pittsburgh engineering consulting firm HDR.
• There will be some overlap when both the Parkway East and Charles Anderson Bridge are closed. The Charles Anderson Bridge — one of the main arteries between Oakland and Squirrel Hill on the Boulevard of the Allies — abruptly closed in February 2023 when inspectors deemed it unsafe. Construction to replace the bridge is not expected to be completed until fall 2026.
• PennDOT is working with Allegheny County, City of Pittsburgh and other towns to ensure there will be no other planned construction projects on the official detour routes.

COMMERCIAL STREET IN FRICK PARK. | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

• Commercial Street will remain closed for several months after the new bridge is put in place while debris from the demolition is removed and land restored. It will eventually be put back in its original alignment.
• Crews from Fay, which has expertise in demolition and bridge construction, will be working 24/7 during the three weeks that the parkway is closed to keep on schedule. It must complete demolition and bridge replacement in 25 days.
• Olszewski said that the demolition of the current bridge will be conducted with as little impact as possible to neighboring areas. “Our new bridge is closer than anything out there,” she said so they want to ensure it’s not damaged.

PennDOT will hold another public session a few months before the Parkway closure. You can follow updates as the project progresses at this PennDOT site.