A crane boom struck a pedestrian bridge in Pittsburgh on Friday, warping a metal beam of the bridge and causing closures of Bigelow Boulevard in both directions. The closure could last at least a week.
Maria Montaño, spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, said the Finland Street pedestrian bridge will be undergoing an emergency demolition starting Friday evening. The bridge goes over Bigelow and connects Polish Hill and the Hill District.
The bridge was mostly removed by Saturday morning.
Montaño said Bigelow will remain closed in the area until the bridge is torn down and cleared. Bigelow is closed between Herron Avenue and the Bloomfield Bridge intersection in both directions.
“Our administration is dedicated to the safety of our citizens,” said Mayor Ed Gainey in a press release. “We will move as quickly as we can in order to safely re-open Bigelow Blvd, but our number one priority is to keep everyone safe, and that means taking down the Finland pedestrian bridge.”
City officials are currently in the process of identifying a contractor to demolish and clear the bridge. The project is tentatively scheduled to last one week. Montaño said the city has money set aside in the budget for emergencies like this.
It’s unclear how much the project will cost, and the city does not currently have an estimated timeline for the construction of a replacement pedestrian bridge. City officials that information will come at a later date.
Earlier this morning a crane collided with the Finland Pedestrian Bridge that allowed for the safe crossing for pedestrians. After a thorough inspection of the bridge, it was determined that in order to safely re-open Bigelow Blvd the pedestrian bridge needs to be demolished. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/veGLzcdVOR
— City of Pittsburgh (@Pittsburgh) October 7, 2022
Westbound drivers coming from Baum Boulevard should turn right onto the Bloomfield Bridge, continue across the bridge and left onto Liberty Avenue. Then continue on Liberty to Grant Street and turn left onto Seventh Avenue to get back to Bigelow.
If heading westbound from the Bloomfield Bridge, drivers should turn left onto Bigelow, take a slight right to continue on Bigelow to then turn right onto Centre Avenue. Drivers should then turn right onto Herron, which will take you back to Bigelow.
Eastbound drivers should turn right onto Herron then turn left onto Centre. Motorists who want to get to Bloomfield will turn left onto Bigelow and motorists going to Baum will continue on Centre and turn left on N Craig Street.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit said in a tweet that nine inbound and nine outbound stops for the 77-Penn Hills bus will not be able to be serviced while that section of Bigelow is closed. Riders should instead use the inbound stop at Baum at Millvale and outbound at Millvale at Baum.
