New Davis Avenue Bridge breaks ground in Brighton Heights

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh just broke ground to bridge the largest North Side park to the largest North Side neighborhood.

Construction is now underway to rebuild the Davis Avenue bridge.

The new pedestrian and bike bridge will reconnect Brighton Heights to Riverview Park.

“I live on the other side of where the bridge is going. And if you want to get up here either by foot or on the bike, you end up sharing the road with cars,” said Christopher MacTaggart, a Brighton Heights resident

Back in 2009, channel 11 captured the implosion of the old Davis Avenue bridge which was built in 1898.

Since then, you’ll find a huge gap and gates on each hillside between Brighton Heights and Riverview Park.

City officials say the pedestrian bridge will make walking and bicycling quicker, easier and safer from one side to the other.

“I love the fact that we are, we are not just building a bridge. We are making it something where people actually want to come look at you know the surroundings of it.” State Rep. Emily Kinkead said.

The new bridge will showcase artwork from a local artist and engineers plan to keep some of these original railings on the new bridge.

The money is secured, and according to city engineers, it will cost $6.1 million.

“This is a connection where people across neighborhoods start to come together, and it’s really exciting,” said Kinkead.

Brighton Heights resident Christopher Mactaggart says he can’t wait to ride his bike across it.

“I never would’ve imagined in a million years this would come together this quickly and I am very excited about this,” said Mactaggart.

The new Davis Avenue bridge should be open to pedestrians by this fall.

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