PennDOT opened what it called a "nice little link" in the massive West End Circle project yesterday, much to the delight of West End residents and business owners.

The Route 60/South Main Street bridge over Saw Mill Run had been closed since last April, forcing about 8,600 vehicles per day into the detour labyrinth that has been built at the circle, site of a $52.6 million improvement project that will last into next year.

"Today represents a good day for the West End and a good day for the project moving forward," said Dan Cessna, District 11 executive for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

"This may be a small link to him but it's a very big link ... a very great and lasting improvement" for West End merchants, said Andy Marcinko, president of the West End Village Business Association.

The opening of the small bridge connects the tree-lined South Main Street business corridor with West Carson Street and the circle.

Tomorrow at 6 a.m., another piece will fall into place as PennDOT reopens a ramp from northbound Saw Mill Run Boulevard to West Carson Street.

The biggest piece of the project, a head-on connection of Saw Mill Run Boulevard and the West End Bridge through the "hole in the wall," an underpass built through a railroad embankment, remains under construction.

Mr. Cessna estimated that the overall project is 60 percent finished, with completion expected by July 2010.