PennDOT crews have closed Commercial Street for a second day in a row as they conduct yet another test slide of the new bridge that will be installed on I-376 Parkway East.PennDOT announced the closure Thursday evening after extending Thursday’s closure a few hours.As of Friday, Commercial Street and nearby Forward Avenue are closed between Whipple Street and Summerset Drive from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. However, PennDOT officials say the road will reopen early if the work is completed ahead of schedule. PennDOT officials did not elaborate on why a second day of these temporary closures was needed. A spokesperson told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 on Friday morning, “crews are making adjustments to the slide system to ensure we are prepared for the total closure come July 10th.””This bridge is going to slide into place if it likes it or not,” PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang said during a news conference Thursday.He added, “There are so many components to this. There are so many little pieces. We just don’t want any hiccups.”Neighbors, like Christina Cerkevich, who is the chair for the Swisshelm Forward community organization, detailed some of the issues they noticed on the first day, like residents not being let down to their homes on Commercial Street, and construction work on other roads impacting the detour.”Our detour route is down to one alternating lane, and the GPS systems didn’t know that the closure had been extended, so, like, at 5 o’clock, at home from work time, GPS was actively routing people to take Commercial because Braddock (Avenue) was messed up and 376 was messed up, and so it was trying to send you this way,” Cerkevich said.The full closure of Commercial Street, Forward Avenue and Nine Mile Run Trail will go into effect again Monday at 7 a.m. and continue until the bridge project is complete Aug. 3.The full closure of the parkway begins July 10.

PITTSBURGH —

PennDOT crews have closed Commercial Street for a second day in a row as they conduct yet another test slide of the new bridge that will be installed on I-376 Parkway East.

PennDOT announced the closure Thursday evening after extending Thursday’s closure a few hours.

As of Friday, Commercial Street and nearby Forward Avenue are closed between Whipple Street and Summerset Drive from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. However, PennDOT officials say the road will reopen early if the work is completed ahead of schedule.

PennDOT officials did not elaborate on why a second day of these temporary closures was needed. A spokesperson told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 on Friday morning, “crews are making adjustments to the slide system to ensure we are prepared for the total closure come July 10th.”

“This bridge is going to slide into place if it likes it or not,” PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang said during a news conference Thursday.

He added, “There are so many components to this. There are so many little pieces. We just don’t want any hiccups.”

Neighbors, like Christina Cerkevich, who is the chair for the Swisshelm Forward community organization, detailed some of the issues they noticed on the first day, like residents not being let down to their homes on Commercial Street, and construction work on other roads impacting the detour.

“Our detour route is down to one alternating lane, and the GPS systems didn’t know that the closure had been extended, so, like, at 5 o’clock, at home from work time, GPS was actively routing people to take Commercial because Braddock (Avenue) was messed up and 376 was messed up, and so it was trying to send you this way,” Cerkevich said.

The full closure of Commercial Street, Forward Avenue and Nine Mile Run Trail will go into effect again Monday at 7 a.m. and continue until the bridge project is complete Aug. 3.

The full closure of the parkway begins July 10.