{"id":249631,"date":"2026-07-22T19:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/249631\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:27:11","slug":"the-parkway-may-reopen-sooner-than-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/249631\/","title":{"rendered":"The Parkway May Reopen Sooner Than Expected"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Commercial<\/a><\/p>\n

RENDERING COURTESY OF PENNDOT<\/p>\n

The old Commercial Street Bridge has been imploded, the new one has slid into place; officials say everything is going to plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, a spokesperson to PennDOT told Pittsburgh Magazine that the parkway may even open earlier than originally planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project team has been working 24\/7 and are currently tracking ahead of schedule at this time,\u201d says Nicole Haney, press officer for PennDOT. \u201cThough a date has not been determined, we anticipate I-376 reopening ahead of the previously targeted date of Aug. 3.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Haney adds that there have not been any major hiccups so far, and that everything is progressing as planned \u2014 if not better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Officials confirmed at a press conference Wednesday that the around-the-clock work has paid off; PennDOT secretary Mike Carroll says he expects the parkway will be reopened by the middle of next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have completed this project and opened the parkway in less than three weeks,\u201d he says. \u201cAgain: A stunning achievement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carroll calls the project an example of \u201cimmaculate construction,\u201d and explains that traditional construction methods would\u2019ve taken the better part of four years. However, the Commercial Street Bridge project utilized \u201caccelerated bridge construction techniques\u201d to laterally slide the new, 22 million-pound bridge 102 feet onto the existing alignment of I-376. This marks one of the largest lateral slide projects performed in Pennsylvania history, officials say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the opportunity to travel around the state and to neighboring states to see these kinds of projects. None, and I mean none, are as stunning to me as this one,\u201d Carroll says.<\/p>\n

He also adds that there was not \u201ca single work injury\u201d during the entire process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made tremendous progress, and I\u2019m really, really proud of this work,\u201d Carroll says. \u201cI look forward to this bridge being opened as soon as possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sentiment echoed by Jason Zang, PennDOT\u2019s District 11 executive. At Wednesday\u2019s press conference, Zang praised the \u201ctalent and dedication\u201d of the workers who made the project possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He explains that construction crews have turned their focus away from under the bridge and are focused now on the new surface, pouring concrete and protective materials to keep it in good shape for decades to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the last step, workers will finish the concrete-bearing pedestals, pave the roadway, restore the surrounding green space and plant over 5,000 trees, according to officials. \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RENDERING COURTESY OF PENNDOT The old Commercial Street Bridge has been imploded, the new one has slid into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[32721,20507,53,73,75,74],"class_list":["post-249631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-32721","tag-commercial-street-bridge","tag-construction","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}