Filming for ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ will shut down 16th Street Bridge
Anyone who frequently uses the 16th Street Bridge during the early evening may want to invest in Waze over the next few weeks.
The David McCullough Bridge, known colloquially as the 16th Street Bridge, allows Western Pennsylvanians to cross the Allegheny River via either the Strip District or North Side. On Friday, Allegheny County’s Department of Public Works sent out a news release warning Pittsburghers that “it has granted a permit to King Street Productions, Inc., to close” the 16th Street Bridge at various times over the next few weeks.
King Street Productions is one of the companies working on “Mayor of Kingstown” season 3, which is currently the only major Hollywood project filming in this region. Dani Weinstein, chief communications officer for “Mayor of
Kingstown” producer 101 Studios, confirmed to the Post-Gazette that the bridge closures are for “Mayor of Kingstown” filming.
Local commuters can expect the 16th Street Bridge to be closed:
• May 6-10 from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
• May 11-13 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• All day on May 14-15. • May 16-18 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The county’s news release specified that “almost all traffic will be detoured” via Route 28, Liberty Avenue and the 31st Street Bridge. Traffic headed toward Chestnut Street and other nearby side streets will be re-routed to Progress Street, Chesbro Street, River Avenue, East General Robinson Street, Anderson Street, Ninth Street and the Rachel Carson Bridge.
“Mayor of Kingstown” is a crime drama that Paramount+ first brought to Western Pennsylvania for its second season, which aired in early 2023. Season 3 began shooting here in January and, back then at least, folks close to the production were expecting filming to wrap sometime in mid-late May.
Paramount+ recently revealed that “Mayor of Kingstown” season 3 will premiere on June 2. The first full trailer dropped last month and featured series protagonist Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner) once again trying to maintain some semblance of peace in fictional Kingstown, Mich.
It’s common for traffic to be disrupted due to film shoots. “Mayor of Kingstown” season 2 shut down roads in the Strip District and the North Side in June 2022, and season 3 obtained permission to briefly close the Rochester Beaver-Bridge a few weeks ago.
In early 2020, the Netflix thriller “Sweet Girl” closed parts of Downtown and the North Side so it could execute a large-scale action sequence involving a helicopter.
Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer brought up the Roberto Clemente Bridge being cleared for 1999’ s “Inspector Gadget,” 2002’s “The Mothman Prophecies” shutting down a Kittanning bridge for two weeks and 2012’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” causing rolling closures along the Parkway West while filming Emma Watson’s famous truck bed scene through the Fort Pitt Tunnel.
“We appreciate the residents of the region’ s patience as our economic generating film activity takes place,” Ms. Keezer said. “We know it will disrupt some people’s daily commutes and lives, and I hope they continue to bear with it as we continue to bring new revenue.”