A light pole fell from a bridge in Swisshelm Park, startling a couple driving below, as PennDOT investigates the cause
PITTSBURGH —
A light pole fell from the newly replaced Commercial Street Bridge on the Parkway East, startling a couple driving below as PennDOT investigates the incident.
“I remember screaming, ‘Something’s falling off the bridge.’ All of a sudden, my husband’s kind of looking side to side, and I’m like, ‘Stop,’ and as soon as we slammed on the brakes, this pole just plummeted into the road,” Erin Milanovich said.
Milanovich described the moment as “beyond scary” and said she and her husband were stunned by what had happened.
“We both were just sitting there, jaws dropped, like, oh my gosh,” Milanovich said.
Looking for more news in your area | Subscribe to the WTAE YouTube Channel
PennDOT confirmed that a light pole had fallen from the bridge but said they are unsure why. The bridge was replaced over the summer in a $95 million project, which involved using a massive lateral slide and hydraulic jacks to move it into place.
Milanovich shared the incident in a local Facebook group to warn neighbors, and they contacted local officials.
“We just want to know that it is being taken care of by all of the agencies that should be on top of this — the construction agency, the PennDOT state inspectors, health and safety,” said Christina Cerkevich, chair of the community group Swisshelm Forward.
Milanovich is grateful that she and her husband were unharmed.
“We were seconds away from it. If it would have landed on our car, it could have had a drastically different turn for us. It was very startling,” Milanovich said.
PennDOT is continuing to investigate how the pole fell.
Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.