City infrastructure commission holds first meeting since creation nearly 2 years ago
Pittsburgh’s new infrastructure commission held its first official meeting Tuesday, nearly six months after its members were approved and almost two years after the group was first created, with an optimistic outlook on the state of the city’s bridges.
During the time that the commission sat empty, a $1.5 million assessment found that 32 cityowned bridges were in poor condition. In the year after the Fern Hollow collapse, the city made almost no progress in fixing its other bridges, a Pittsburgh PostGazette review of public records found.
Things may be starting to change. During the meeting, commission members reviewed a draft summary report of the status of the bridges from WSP, a consulting firm that does work in the transportation and infrastructure sectors.
Of 54 bridges either rated in poor condition or were listed as high priority, 22 of them are “being addressed through current ongoing projects,” the summary report said.
Lou Ruzzi, a WSP director, said that just because a bridge is rated poor doesn’t mean it’s unsafe. It just indicates that a component of the bridge, like the deck, needs immediate attention.
Additionally, there are no open bridges in the city that are deemed critical and need work within the next seven days, the summary report said. Based on the WSP priority scale, the next ranking of bridges would be high priority, which require work to be done within the next six months.
The “vast majority” of bridges that fall within that category “have been resolved or will be resolved as part of a larger reconstruction or rehabilitation project,” the report said.
“It’s not as dire as people assume it is right now,” City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, who is on the commission, said during Tuesday evening’s meeting. “Bridges that are unsafe have been closed.”
The Charles Anderson Bridge, one of the 32 poorly rated bridges, and Panther Hollow overpass were both closed earlier this year and are slated to have construction begin in the spring, along with the Davis Avenue pedestrian bridge.
Mr. Ruzzi said that the city has been “jumping on these repairs in a quicker manner,” and the only restriction now is the amount of staff and the money available for bridge work.
The city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure has been adding staff to its bridge division this year and has plans to hire a bridge maintenance supervisor in early 2024.
By fall 2024, department officials expect to be able to have inhouse crews complete basic bridge maintenance like cleaning, they told council members during a recent budget discussion.
Although Tuesday was the first official meeting of the commission, members did gather for an “informal chat” in October.
Darrin Kelly, the president of the Allegheny-Fayette Labor Central Labor Council, and Patrick Cornell, the city’s chief financial officer, were elected as the cochairs of the commission during Tuesday night’s meeting.
In the wake of the 2021 Fern Hollow Bridge collapse, Pittsburgh
Mayor Ed Gainey and then-City Councilman Corey O’Connor, who represented the neighborhood where the bridge was, announced the formation of a new Commission on Infrastructure Asset Reporting and Investment.
Mr. O’Connor, who is now Allegheny County controller, introduced legislation to create the commission in City Council in February 2022.
“To make sure that Pittsburghers get to where they need to go safelyand securely, this legislation will also bring experts to the table to provide guidance on our immediate infrastructure needs and prioritizing long-term strategic investment,” he said at the time.
But it was over a year later before any nominations were made. In July, Mr. Gainey submitted his first nominations, and even then the process hit a few bumps.
Mr. Gainey nominated a dozen people from various labor unions and city departments in mid-July. One of those nominees was Carrie Lewis DelRosso, a former Republican state representative who was Republican Doug Mastriano’s running mate in the 2022 governor’s race.
The mayor’s office told WESA that having Ms. DelRosso on the board “would be an opportunity for us to reach across the aisle.” But her nomination was later rescinded after some council members expressed concerns about it.
As of Tuesday’s meeting, there were 13 members on the commission. The legislation intended the commission to be made up of 21 people total. There is one appointment that is being held by City Council for council members to interview the candidate.