Parkway East Commercial Street Bridge Demolition Date Set

Find out here when the Parkway East's Commercial Street Bridge will be razed - and how you can see it live.

By Eric Heyl, Patch Staff

Jul 14, 2026 4:01 pm EDT

(PennDOT webcam )

PITTSBURGH, PA — Say goodbye to the old Commercial Street Bridge. PennDOT has announced the span will be demolished on Wednesday.

PennDOT says the span is expected to undergo the explosive demolition sometime between 1 p.m.-9 p.m. on Wednesday. More information on the specific time is expected to be released tomorrow.

The bridge, a key section of the parkway between the eastern end of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the Edgewood/Swissvale exit, closed on Friday. so that it can be razed and its replacement bridge slid into place.

The partial parkway closure which will last until at least Aug. 5, has caused detours for 100,000 motorists daily.

PennDOT officials said the explosive process will only occur after crews and emergency personnel have cleared the blast radius on the ground and in the air and have declared the zone safe for explosion.

Residents in the area may proceed as usual in and around their homes. But PennDOT said they should be advised of a loud sound during the explosion and anticipate additional dust afterwards.

People can view the explosive demolition from a safe distance via the live feed camera displaying the Commercial Street Bridge on the Commercial Street Bridge webpage or the specialized 511PA webpage at https://www.511pa.com/map/page/CommercialStBridge. The camera will run live through the closure of the bridge.

The Commercial Street Bridge replacement project is utilizing Accelerated Bridge Construction tTechniques to laterally slide the new bridge onto the existing alignment of the parkway. It's one of the largest lateral slide projects ever performed in Pennsylvania.

The $95 million project, located between the Edgewood/Swissvale (Exit 77) interchange and Squirrel Hill Tunnel in Edgewood and Swissvale boroughs, and the City of Pittsburgh began in June of 2024 with the reconstruction of the westbound I-376 off-ramp to Forest Hills/Wilkinsburg (Exit 78B). The overall project is anticipated to conclude in the summer of 2027.