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A new (and high-tech) life for the Hot Metal Bridge
Sunday, June 25, 2000
Friday's opening of the Hot Metal Bridge over the Monongahela to traffic is a more significant event than it might seem.
The bridge, which consists of two separate structures that share the same river piers, was used by railroad cars to shuttle molten metal between the Hazelwood and South Side works of the former LTV Co. The two-lane crossing runs from 29th and East Carson streets on the South Side to Second Avenue at the Pittsburgh Technology Center.
Given the concentration of high technology research and other activities at the universities in nearby Oakland, the work under way at the Pittsburgh Technology Center and the likelihood that new high-technology firms will locate in the South Side Works multiuse development area, the bridge can be important in tying those areas together. The bridge also will help to relieve some of the traffic pressures that have been built up temporarily during repair work on the Glenwood Bridge.
Recreation-conscious Pittsburghers who work Downtown, in Oakland, on the South Side and at the technology center are now hoping the city will concentrate on fulfilling a promise to connect the bridge to trails on both sides of the Monongahela River. Both trails are used for walking, biking and rollerblading.
The city and the Urban Redevelopment Authority need to identify a funding source for about $3 million to build such a connection, and city officials would be well advised to devote plenty of time and energy to making that happen.
In the meantime, the Hot Metal Bridge will provide a welcome transition to a more convenient future for people who work and play in some of Pittsburgh's busiest and fastest-growing neighborhoods.