Pittsburgh's Fern Hollow Bridge On Verge Of Reopening

PITTSBURGH, PA — PennDOT is promising quite the Christmas gift for motorists who travel through the city's East End: The Fern Hollow Bridge, which attracted national attention when it collapsed in spectacular fashion in January, has been almost completely rebuilt and should partially reopen by Christmas.

PennDOT District 11 executive Cheryl-Moon-Sirianni told WTAE-TV that the goal is to have two lanes of the four-lane bridge open by year's end.

The 447-foot-long Fern Hollow span fell approximately 100 feet into Frick Park early in the morning of Jan. 28. Ten people were injured, and a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus and five other
vehicles were damaged in the incident.

The collapsed coincided with a Pittsburgh visit by President Joe Biden to tout the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law approved last year.

The legislation allowed PennDOT to provide funds for the Fern Hollow Bridge replacement without impacting other important projects in the area. While no direct funding was obtained via the new law, it enabled the agency to channel money to Fern Hollow from other projects whose funding will be replenished by the infrastructure legislation.

“The importance of this investment to our infrastructure can not be underestimated," Sirianni-Moon said in a news release.

Moon-Sirianni told WTAE-TV that the goal is to have two lanes of the four-lane bridge open by year's end.