Overview
- PennDOT and contractors reopened both directions of Parkway East near the Squirrel Hill Tunnel Monday evening after finishing demolition and placing a new 22‑million‑pound bridge over the highway.
- Crews closed the corridor on July 10, demolished the old span on July 16, and slid the prebuilt bridge roughly 96 feet into place by July 20 before completing paving and markings underneath.
- Contractors worked around the clock to meet a performance incentive that paid $2 million if the highway reopened before 12:01 a.m. on July 28, allowing the project to finish several days ahead of the original Aug. 3 target.
- Commercial Street beneath the new span remains closed for final surface and connector work and is expected to reopen around Aug. 3, while some ramps and temporary lane patterns near Wilkinsburg remain in effect.
- The full closure temporarily diverted about 100,000 daily Parkway East drivers onto neighborhood streets, producing mixed effects for local businesses and highlighting the tradeoff between short-term disruption and avoiding years of lane restrictions.