Pittsburgh's Swindell Bridge is being resurfaced, will undergo more repairs later this year

Pittsburgh’s Swindell Bridge is being milled and resurfaced in a project that began Friday, officials said.

The 1,097-foot-long bridge, which stretches over the Parkway North on the North Side, is rated in poor condition, PennDOT records show. It opened in 1930 and is used by about 5,700 vehicles a day, according to the records.

The city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure said the work is expected to be done next Friday. Motorists will encounter some lane restrictions, but traffic will not have to be detoured because of the work.

The bridge is scheduled to undergo more substantial repairs later this year. That project is still in the planning phase, officials said.

This comes after Mayor Ed Gainey last month announced an initiative to better investigate the city’s infrastructure needs and make provisions for the repair and upkeep of bridges in the wake of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse in January.

During that announcement, the mayor addressed concerns he had heard from residents about the Swindell Bridge. He said at the time that a team had recently visited the span and another inspection had been scheduled for that month.

Gainey had promised to “close it immediately” if an inspector deemed the span unsafe.