Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
WPXI Pittsburgh
Upgrades to bridge in McKeesport will start soon
By Nicole Ford,
2024-03-27
Broken concrete and weeds cover the Versailles Avenue bridge in McKeesport.
“It’s just in horrible condition,” said Victoria Evans who lives in the area.
For two years, the bridge has not seen any traffic, closed by the city due to structural issues.
“Traffic is iffy, when you try to get Ubers or food, they get lost. It takes an extra hour. Kids go to school on the other side so it’s hard for them to get to school,” said Oshea Johnson who lives nearby.
It’s a divide in this community.
“For pedestrians, it could be 30 to 40 minutes detour for that individual,” said Tom Maglicco, the city administrator.
But in order for the city to rebuild, it may cost up to $10 million.
“The engineers have to get in place and see where and how can we make the bridge a lesser cost maybe make it smaller it a little bit by expanding to ends to make the span shorter,” Maglicco said.
All that engineering work will start soon with nearly $2 million in new grant funding from the state but that doesn’t mean we are any closer to seeing it reopen.
“Even if we had all the money in place right now, we’d still need the time to do the engineering so it could still be a few years for this to actually be completed,” Maglicco said.
Gathering that money is something Sen. Jim Brewster is working to get as this project competes with all the other infrastructure fixes that need to be upgraded across the state.
“This is part of rebuilding these older communities and historic cities, this once thriving population, we have got to bring that back, Duquesne, Clairton as well. This is more than just a bridge,” Brewster said.
The senator hopes to work with the city to use some of this funding to at least get one side of the bridge open to pedestrians.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Most Popular
Comments / 0