Tuesday, November 13, 2007
By Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The invitations have been sent: The Hot Metal Bridge for bikers and pedestrians will officially be opened following a Nov. 28 noon ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will lead participants in the first trip across the Monongahela River on the $10 million, rehabilitated steel bridge that parallels its old industrial twin that was converted in 2000 into a two-lane bridge for cars and trucks.

The symbolic short journey will begin on the Second Avenue side, near the Pittsburgh Technology Center, and end up at the SouthSide Works, where participants will be treated to hot chocolate, coffee and cookies in the lobby of the REI outdoors gear and recreation outlet.

The bridge links up on one side with the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and on the other with the Eliza Furnace Trail, also called the “Jail Trail,” to Downtown and Oakland.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority has been working on the project since 2003 with project advocates, including the Allegheny Trail Alliance, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Friends of the Riverfront.

The Hot Metal Bridge that was built for the exclusive use of bikers, runners and walkers is regarded as a key link in the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile trail which, when the last short pieces are finished, will connect Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md. From there, people can take the C&O Canal Towpath to Washington, D.C.

Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, characterized the opening of the Hot Metal Bridge as “momentous.”

“We’re trying to get as many people out as possible to ride and walk it and all kinds of stuff,” he said. “It’ll be a great day for the city.”

The event also is significant because the city that Bicycling Magazine ranked as one of the worst places to ride a bicycle in 1991 has evolved into one of the nation’s best. Next June, Tour Pennsylvania, a USA Cycling-sanctioned event, will begin in Philadelphia and finish in Pittsburgh to help the city celebrate its 250th anniversary.

Both Hot Metal bridges were used to shuttle molten iron and materials between former Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. plants on both sides of the rivers. All but a few buildings near Hazelwood have been demolished and the huge sites have become “brownfield sites” being aggressively redeveloped.

Converting the second bridge for biking and hiking was in question for a while when bids came in about $3 million over budget. But the URA secured an extra $2.2 million in federal funding and about $500,000 from the state.

Joe Grata can be reached at jgrata@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1985.
First published on November 13, 2007 at 12:00 am