PITTSBURGH, PA — A test slide for the upcoming Commercial Street Bridge replacement on the Parkway East will occur Thursday.
The test comes as the full closure of the parkway looms on July 10. It will trigger the temporary one-day closure of Commercial Street, Forward Avenue and the Frick Park Nine Mile Run Trail.
The closures will begin at 6 a.m. and are expected to end around 4 p.m. But they will begin anew on June 29 and will be in place until the bridge project is finished in August.
The $95 million Commercial Street bridge replacement project will utilize Accelerated Bridge Construction Techniques to laterally slide the new bridge onto the existing alignment of the parkway, which will be one of the largest lateral slide projects ever performed in Pennsylvania.
The replacement bridge has been under construction in Frick Park adjacent to the existing structure, which will be demolished.
It will be put into place between the eastbound exit of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the parkway's Edgewood-Swissvale interchange.
On Thursday, Commercial Street and Forward Avenue will close between Whipple Street and Summerset Drive. The Nine Mile Run Trail will also close during this time.
If all goes as planned, the area is expected to reopen by 4 p.m.
However, the reopening will be temporary. That same area will close full-time on June 29 and stay closed until the bridge work is completed in August.
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