The morning after one of Pittsburgh\u2019s primary highways was closed, Charlie Linsenbigler was drawn to take a look for himself.<\/p>\n
He took in the view Saturday from the GetGo gas station overlooking the Edgewood\/Swissvale interchange on the Parkway East, where crews could be seen working west of the Commercial Street Bridge that will be replaced over the next 25 days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just walked down to see the mess,\u201d said Linsenbigler, who said he lives about a 15-minute walk away on South Braddock Avenue.<\/p>\n
While traffic was stacking up on South Braddock on both sides of the highway, Lisenbigler said it looked pretty normal to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome the first work day, it might be a little crazy,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the three weeks will go by pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
PennDOT closed the Parkway East between the Squirrel Hill tunnel and the Edgewood\/Swissvale interchange Friday night. It\u2019s expected to remain closed until Aug. 3, while the Commercial Street Bridge is demolished and its already-built replacement is slid into place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think its kind of exciting. That bridge is going to fall and it\u2019s a miracle the way they\u2019re going to get it back,\u201d said Ann Norman, who, thanks to a well-timed vacation, won\u2019t have to worry about from traveling from the Green Tree area to work in North Versailles. \u201cIt\u2019s really great engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Turocy, of Mt. Washington, said his work as a contractor takes him everywhere. While he mostly works in the South Hills, on Saturday he was looking at a job in Swissvale before going to Butler.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel bad for the people who take it every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n