Concerns over Herron Avenue Bridge support columns prompt emergency closure

Pittsburgh officials Wednesday announced an emergency closure of the Herron Avenue Bridge over safety concerns.

An independent consultant and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials Tuesday found issues with the columns that support the bridge, which connects the city’s Polish Hill and Lawrenceville neighborhoods and spans the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway.

The columns already were a “point of concern” that prompted the city to start plans for a rehabilitation project, said Jacob Williams, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.

The rebar within the concrete on at least one column was exposed and deteriorated, according to Williams.

The bridge was being inspected every six months because of deterioration in several areas, Williams said. An interim inspection that started in March resulted in additional structural analysis.

A consultant on Tuesday advised the city to close to bridge, Williams said.

“Since the start of my administration, I’ve had to make the tough call to close bridges more than once — but I’ve never regretted putting public safety first,” Mayor Ed Gainey said in a statement.

The Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed into a ravine in Frick Park and injured several motorists in January 2022, shortly after Gainey took office.

The next year, the city closed the Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge in Schenley Park because of safety concerns. Rehabilitation work began in the fall, and officials expect the bridge will reopen to traffic by fall of 2026.

In October, the Panther Hollow Bridge in Schenley Park was closed because of concerns about its steel trusses. In an April update, officials said crews have inspected the span and conducted a load-rating analysis. Final plans for repair are expected next month, and Williams said the goal is to reopen the bridge this year.

Officials did not immediately say how long the Herron Avenue Bridge may be closed.

The city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure already is in the preliminary engineering phase of a full Herron Avenue Bridge rehabilitation project, which is expected to start in 2028. The city is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to look for ways to safely reopen the bridge before then.

In the meantime, the city is detouring southbound traffic to take Liberty Avenue to the Bloomfield Bridge to Bigelow Boulevard. Northbound traffic can take Bigelow Boulevard to the Bloomfield Bridge to Liberty Avenue.