Contractor to relocate road, trail under Commercial Street Bridge Thursday as part of replacement project

The next major step in the replacement of the Commercial Street Bridge on the Parkway East will take place Thursday when crews relocate a road and trail under the bridge.

The bridge carries about 100,000 vehicles a day above Frick Park just outside the inbound Squirrel Hill Tunnel. The plan is to build the new bridge beside the existing one and slide it into place in 2026, so Commercial Street and the trail that run through the park under it have to be moved about 150 feet to create a construction pad.

That work is scheduled to begin at about 3 p.m. Thursday, but motorists can expect traffic disruptions for as long as 15 minutes between 1 and 4 p.m. When there isn’t a complete stoppage, flaggers plan to allow one alternating lane of traffic for drivers.

The relocation is expected to last until the old bridge is demolished and the new bridge is slid into place in July 2026.

The road relocation follows several other preliminary steps contractor Fay S&B USA has undertaken for the $95 million bridge replacement.

In July, crews lowered the inbound Wilkinsburg exit ramp from the Parkway East to create more space for large trucks to pass under the highway. That exit will be the main detour route for inbound traffic when the highway is closed for 25 days in 2026.

Additionally, a temporary access road has been installed on the hillside adjacent to the inbound, right side of the bridge below Beechwood Boulevard. That road will allow suppliers to deliver some construction material to the area where the new bridge will be assembled.

Over the winter, the contractor is expected to install a retaining wall outside the eastbound tunnel.

Early next year, beams and other construction material will be delivered, some of it late at night when traffic will be reduced to one lane so that a crane can lift items from trucks parked on the highway and lower them down to the construction area below.

When the new bridge is ready in 2026, the highway will be closed for 25 days to demolish the old bridge and slowly move the new bridge into place using hydraulic jacks. The project should finish in summer 2027 with restoration of the park and putting the road and trail back in their original location.