Pittsburgh's Anderson, Swineburne Bridge Projects Could Overlap

PITTSBURGH, PA — Now that spring is here, more people will be using Schenley Park and its athletics oval. With one of the main entrances to the park, the Charles Anderson Bridge, being likely closed for renovations for the next three years, many people will be forced to take a fairly lengthy detour that includes the Swineburne Bridge in Greenfield.

But a larger problem looms. The Swineburne Bridge needs to be replaced and current plans call for that project and the Anderson rehabilitation to overlap.

The Charles Anderson Bridge, which connects Oakland to Squirrel Hill and Greenfield, was closed Feb. 1 for emergency repairs that were expected to take four months. But to the dismay of the 21,000 motorists who used the bridge daily, city officials since have decided to proceed with a full rehabilitation of the span.

But that could work out well in the long-run as plans are advancing to replace the Swineburne Street span.

"I am hopeful doing Charles Anderson now will at least minimize and maybe eliminate the need for both bridges to be out at the same time," city Councilwoman Barbara Warwick told Patch. "I don't anticipate the lightning (construction) speed we had with the Fern Hollow Bridge because of the emergency status it received."

The Swineburne Bridge functions as a critical link between Four Mile Run, South Oakland, Greenfield, Hazelwood, and downtown. It weaves beneath the I-376 Frazier St Viaduct and over CSX/Allegheny Valley railroad, Saline St, serving as a gateway to Four Mile Run.

Built in 1915, the Swineburne Bridge was rehabilitated in 1989 and 2013. But its superstructure now has deteriorated to the point the entire bridge needs to be replaced.

The project currently is in its design phase. The most recent city documents on it that were reviewed by Patch indicate that construction is scheduled to start in the spring of 2025 and be completed by the fall of 2026.

The Anderson Bridge project is expected to be complete sometime in 2026.