Editorial: Gainey misses chance with Fern Hollow announcement

Pittsburgh may be making a payment to the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse.

What a victory for justice. What a ringing endorsement for government accountability.

What an absolute bare minimum.

The Gainey administration made the announcement Friday in a news release from Pittsburgh Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak. The decision? If council approves and a judge signs off and all the other pieces fall into place, the city will cut a $500,000 check to express responsibility.

Pay attention there. It’s one $500,000 check — or at least one $500,000 pie cut into pieces for the various victims.

Eight people were injured on the January 2022 morning when the bridge fell into the ravine below, just hours before President Joe Biden was showing up for a national spotlight on infrastructure.

Oh, the irony.

It took less than a year to rebuild the bridge. It took more than twice as long to determine responsibility. The National Transportation Safety Board released its findings in February. The results? The bridge collapsed because of years of corrosive decay due to neglect.

The problem is that despite responsibility, state law caps the monetary value of the city’s culpability at just $500,000. No matter how flagrant the neglect, the total consequences are low for just one complainant, much less a whole bridge full. If there were 200 people on the bridge at the time, it would still be just $500,000 divided among all of them.

That isn’t the city’s fault. The collapse of the bridge wasn’t the Gainey administration’s fault, as the mayor had barely taken his oath and the problem was on the shoulders of multiple previous administrations. In both instances, Gainey is just playing with the cards he’s been dealt.

With that in mind, as with so many things, it’s the handling that makes the administration look bad.

The announcement was made so unexpectedly, it took the victims’ lawyers by surprise. It really seems like they should have been looped in beforehand.

This also could have been a chance for Gainey to stand up and be regretful for the corner the city has been painted into by actions taken by others over decades. Issuing a news release in the early morning hours makes it look like Gainey was dodging questions. He had the opportunity to be outraged on behalf of every Pittsburgher and missed it.

And, let’s be clear, both the state law and the city’s failure should outrage everyone who lives in or travels through Pittsburgh. The fact that only eight people were injured when the Fern Hollow Bridge fell is just dumb luck. The fact that more bridges haven’t fallen is an absolute miracle.

The law needs to be updated. The city needs to show loudly and often how seriously infrastructure safety now is being taken. Gainey could have done both and didn’t.

What a missed opportunity.