Roadwork: Commercial Street Bridge work limits Parkway East traffic

Work to replace the Commercial Street Bridge on the Parkway East just outside the outbound the Squirrel Hill Tunnel kicks into high gear this week.

Crews will close the shoulder and right outbound lane from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Thursday nights between the tunnel and the Edgewood/Swissvale exit. The closure will allow the contractor to build a retaining wall as part of the bridge project.

The $95 million project will involve building the replacement bridge about 20 feet south of the existing bridge in Frick Park. In July 2026, the highway is scheduled to be closed for about three weeks while the existing bridge is demolished and the new one is slowly moved into place using hydraulic jacks.

Throughout the project, contractor Fay S&B USA will be allowed 35 extended restrictions from 9 p.m. to 2 p.m., which shouldn’t cause major traffic problems because most of the restrictions will be on the outbound side of the highway, which doesn’t have a rush hour during those times.

The new bridge should open once it is slid into place, but the entire project – including demolition cleanup and restoration of Frick Park – won’t be finished until 2027.

• Parkway East II – Beginning Monday, the inbound highway will have overnight restrictions between the off-ramp for the Boulevard of the Allies and the Birmingham Bridge from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. through the end of May. The single-lane restriction will allow crews to do bridge jacking, bearing replacement, and pin and hanger replacement work. The work is part of a $35.4 million project to upgrade a series of ramps and bridges on the Boulevard of the Allies.
• Ewing Road – The road will close at 7 a.m. Monday between Beitsinger and Coraopolis Heights Road through mid-July while crews replace a culvert over Meeks Run. The $827,000 project, which also includes utility relocation, approach roadway work and pavement marking, should be finished sometime in the fall.
• Interstate 279 – The shoulder will be restricted at the Jacks Run Road Bridge in Ross from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. beginning Monday. Crews will be doing work to repair spalling on the road surface through May 23.
•  Audubon Road – The road will close to traffic between Hunt and Little Sewickley Creek roads in Sewickley Heights from 7 a.m. Monday through May 23 while crews fix a landslide and improve drainage. Local access will be maintained during the work, and detours will be posted.
• McKees Rocks Bridge – Crews will be stopping bridge traffic for 15 minutes or less Tuesday and Wednesday nights to remove barriers and replace them with orange cones or poles known as channelizers to keep motorists in their lanes until permanent lane markers can be painted. The work will take place from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on the bridge across the Ohio River between routes 51 in McKees Rocks and 65 in Pittsburgh. It is part of a $38.6 million bridge preservation project that will finish in the fall.
• McKnight Road – Crews will be milling the highway from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday and finishing at 6 a.m. Friday in Ross and McCandless. On Monday and Tuesday, single-lane restrictions will occur on the northbound on and off-ramps at Peebles Road. On Wednesday and Thursday, single-lane restrictions will occur on the southbound off-ramps at Babcock Boulevard and southbound McKnight Road will be reduced to a single lane of traffic between Perrymont Road and Babcock Boulevard. Access to businesses and side roads will be maintained during the work. Motorists will drive on the milled road surface until it is paved, which should begin on Saturday. The work is part of a $27 million improvement project between Venture Street on Pittsburgh’s North Side and Perrymont Road in McCandless.
• Pennsylvania Turnpike – Ramps from the turnpike to Interstate 79 in Cranberry will be closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Friday while crews continue work at the Cranberry interchange. Detours will be posted. The interchange work should be finished in October.
• Sewickley Oakmont Road – There will be one lane of alternating traffic near the intersection with Buckhill Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday. Insight Pipe Contracting will be doing sanitary sewer lining work during the restrictions.