Pittsburgh, PA – Today, following the successful lateral slide of the new $95 million Interstate 376 Commercial Street Bridge in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carrol and PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang announced that I-376 is also anticipated to reopen next week, ahead of the original targeted date of August 3.
The innovative lateral slide operations began at approximately 10:00 AM Sunday morning, July 19. Using Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) techniques, crews moved the structure 96 feet in seven hours. The remaining six feet of the slide was completed Monday morning. This was one of the largest lateral slide projects ever performed in Pennsylvania.
“The innovation used in this project presented some unique challenges that our team was excited to take on, and it reduced years of public traffic impacts into a couple of weeks,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “I am pleased to say with the help of our industry partners, the Commercial Street demolition and slide was a big success.”
A skidding system was used to move the bridge into alignment with the I-376 Parkway East. Each of the 42 skid shoes installed can operate independently, with integrated hydraulic jacks used to lift the load from its temporary supports and set it down on the permanent bearings.
Prior to the slide, the explosive demolition occurred at approximately 8:00 AM Thursday morning, July 16. Crews then continued to demolish the remnants of the former bridge and cleared the necessary debris before beginning the slide of the new bridge.
I-376 was closed to traffic on July 10 and the new projected reopening is ahead of the original targeted date of August 3. The exact opening date will be determined dependent on weather conditions. Commercial Street and Nine Mile Run Trail are expected to reopen soon after. Travelers are encouraged to check the Commercial Street Bridge webpage for updates and sign up for Parkway East email alerts.
“This bridge replacement has been going remarkably well and it’s all because of the great collaboration and hard work from the many people helping move the project forward,” said PennDOT District 11 Executive Jason Zang. “This great progress makes reopening the bridge to traffic ahead of schedule a strong possibility.”
The public can view the bridge progress 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 located between the Edgewood/Swissvale (Exit 77) interchange and Squirrel Hill Tunnel in Swissvale Borough and the City of Pittsburgh. Approximately 100,000 vehicles a day travel on I-376 over Commercial Street, on average. While the bridge is closed, PennDOT has outlined a local and interstate detour, as well as three alternate routes for the public to utilize. Each option can be found in the “Maps and Detours” section of the Commercial Street Bridge Replacement Project webpage.
Construction on the Commercial Street Bridge Replacement Project began in June 2024 with the reconstruction of the westbound I-376 off-ramp to Forest Hills/Wilkinsburg (Exit 78B). Previous work included temporary and permanent piers, abutments, and piles for temporary and permanent foundations, steel delivery and erection, and the continuation of phased ITS work. To reduce the impact on traffic, Commercial Street and the Nine Mile Run Trail below the interstate bridge were temporarily relocated while most of the work occurred. The overall project is anticipated to be completed in summer 2027.
Travelers are encouraged to check the Commercial Street Bridge webpage for updates and sign up for Parkway East email alerts.
Under Governor Shapiro’s Administration, 20,538 road miles have been improved statewide, and work has advanced on 1,898 state and local bridges. Under the new enacted state budget, PennDOT will drive out $775 million over the next two fiscal years for shovel-ready projects to repair state-owned roads across Pennsylvania.
Travelers can monitor traffic conditions on primary travel routes during the bridge closure as well as check conditions on major roads by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,200 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.
Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.pa.gov/DOTprojects. Subscribe to PennDOT news and find transportation results in Allegheny, Beaver, and Lawrence counties at www.pa.gov/DOTdistrict 11.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Nicole Haney, 412-429-5011 or nhaney@pa.gov
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