PITTSBURGH — Road crews have now started work on a bridge that links the Hazelwood and Hays neighborhoods. The Glenwood Bridge is undergoing a facelift.
The reflective lane dividers are now in place and drivers making their way over the Glenwood Bridge are starting to brace themselves.
“It’s going to be WrestleMania XL on the Glenwood Bridge,” said John Sheller, who lives next to the bridge. “It’s just going to be mayhem.”
For the next seven months, the four lanes of traffic stretching across the 2,276-foot-long bridge will be down to just one in each direction.
With an average of 19,030 cars traveling over the bridge every day, traffic backups are expected during rush hour.
“Oh yeah, it’s going to be a mess,” said Bill Hill of Homestead. “Oh man, just thinking about it. It’s going to be bad.”
The nearly 60-year-old bridge is undergoing some upkeep to help protect it from wear and tear. The work is part of a $4.4 million project that includes a new coat of paint for the bridge, sealing deck cracks, replacing expansion dams, fixing drainage and more.
“It needs to be done,” Hill said. “It needs to be done.”
Sidewalks alongside the bridge will also be fixed and that’s good news for Sheller.
“I walk the bridge every day,” Sheller said. “I use it to do my cardio.”
The two lanes will be closed until the end of October.
According to the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS), the bridge is considered to be in fair condition with a five out of nine rating.
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