Jacks Run Road bridge over I-279 in Ross expected to remain closed until fall 2027

North Hills-area motorists will have to find other ways around a closed bridge over Interstate 279 in Ross for about another two years, according to the Allegheny County Department of Public Works.

The department closed Jacks Run Road Bridge No. 3 in July after inspectors found corroded steel in a pier on its northern end. The bridge is scheduled to be demolished and replaced, and a new bridge is not expected to open until the fall of 2027, county public works Deputy Director Jason Molinero said as he updated Ross commissioners on the project at their meeting on Monday, Dec. 1.

An average of 4,631 vehicles had used the bridge every day, according to the county.

The project to replace the bridge is complicated by the presence of a 16-inch natural gas line under the bridge. Work to demolish the bridge cannot begin until May so that natural gas service is maintained to thousands of North Hills customers, Molinero said.

The demolition, expected to take place from May to August, includes removal of the gas line. By September, Peoples Natural Gas will build a temporary structure over I-279 to support a temporary gas line and reestablish service to provide winter heating.

Gas service will not be affected, Molinero said.

After bids are opened in the summer, work to replace the bridge is scheduled to start with foundation work in February 2027, according to Molinero. The temporary gas line would be removed in May 2027, with the bridge being built from June to September 2027.

The demolition and replacement of the bridge will cause lane restrictions, northbound closures and full closures of the highway, Molinero said. Restrictions and closures will be limited to nights and weekends as much as possible.

How many closures there will be and when they will be has not been determined. A detour is being developed.

Ross Commissioners Denise Rickenbrode and John Kettering each questioned Molinero about the speed of the bridge’s replacement. Its closure, Kettering said, cut off a large part of his ward and others who are having to detour through Bellevue and stressing other residential streets.

“It is a substantial impairment,” Kettering said. “That includes things like school buses having real issues getting to and from school, adding time and delay.”

Molinero said the bridge “is our biggest priority and will continue to be until this bridge is down and replaced. We understand its importance to the community.”

The county had a plan in the works to replace the bridge for several years, but it “accelerated quickly on us,” Molinero said.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to accelerate our timeline in this way and cause additional impacts for longer duration than we would ever want to impose on a community, but that’s the circumstances we’re in and we’re working as hard as we can to address it,” he said.

The 205-foot, two-span bridge was built in 1986 as part of the construction of I-279. The damaged pier that prompted the closure will be removed as part of the replacement, and the new bridge will be a single span with a new north abutment.

Since being closed in July, traffic has been detoured using Brighton Road, Lincoln Avenue, North Balph Avenue and Bellevue Road.