Vicki Yann has a front-row seat to one of Pittsburgh’s most ambitious — and disruptive — bridge projects. From the back deck of her Swisshelm Park home, where she has lived for 26 years, she can see the Parkway East’s Commercial Street Bridge just outside the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.
Next month, she expects to watch the bridge disappear in a cloud of dust as crews demolish the aging structure and slide its $95 million replacement into place on a rail system. The replacement bridge has been under construction next to the current bridge since 2024.
Yann said she and her neighbors are uneasy about the project, which will close Parkway East between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and Edgewood-Swissvale exits for 25 days beginning at 9 p.m. July 10. It will also shut down Commercial Street — a key access point to Swisshelm Park that runs under the bridge…