Leaders celebrate Neville Island Bridge repairs, infrastructure work across Pennsylvania

State officials on Oct. 14 celebrated the completion of repairs to the Neville Island Bridge in Allegheny County, one of many critical infrastructure investments from the administrations of Gov. Josh Shapiro and President Joe Biden.

Shapiro, Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, and other state and local officials gathered under the Neville Island Bridge, which carries I-79 across the Ohio River, to mark the end of the federally funded $48 million project.

The Neville Island project supported 80 jobs over three years and included structural repairs, new guard rails, and drainage and signage improvements. The repaired bridge plays a crucial role in the state’s economy, officials said, noting that about 54,000 vehicles use the bridge daily. 

“While that number is quite high, it doesn’t tell the full story of the importance of this bridge,” Carroll said. “This section of I-79 is a critical corridor for folks commuting to points north and south of the city of Pittsburgh. It’s an important connection to Route 65 and locations east and west of the city as well.”

Matt Smith, the chief growth officer of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, said infrastructure investments like the Neville Island Bridge project helps to draw new businesses to the area.

“When we go out and try to attract businesses to western Pennsylvania, they want predictability and certainty, and we’re only able to deliver that through a very strong and vibrant infrastructure system,” Smith said.

The Allegheny County bridge is one of hundreds of Pennsylvania bridges repaired in recent years. The commonwealth repaired more than 200 bridges of at least 20 feet in length in 2023, according to the Shapiro administration. Those repairs resulted in 90 fewer bridges being rated in poor condition, the largest improvement of any state, according to the Shapiro administration’s analysis of data from the Federal Highway Administration that was confirmed by the Pennsylvania Independent.

The state is continuing its efforts to repair its bridges and is working on more than 360 of them, according to the Shapiro administration. Bridge work and other infrastructure repairs have landed critical funding from the Biden administration, including from the president’s 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The law has allocated billions of federal dollars for Pennsylvania, including to repair roads and bridges, invest in waterway infrastructure, replace lead water pipes, and expand internet access in rural areas. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation received a little more than $1 billion specifically for bridge work from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for fiscal years 2022 to 2024, and the law has sent billions more for other transportation projects in the commonwealth, including road repairs, public transportation and airports.

In addition, the state has boosted funding for transportation, specifically bridges. The 2024-25 budget signed by Shapiro in July provided $80.5 million in new funding to repair roads and bridges. Also in July, Shapiro announced Pennsylvania received a $500 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration to help replace the I-83 South Bridge, which connects downtown Harrisburg in Dauphin County to the west shore in Cumberland County.

“When you think about the needs of Pennsylvanians, infrastructure is right at the core of everything,” Shapiro said. “It gets our kids to and from school; it gets folks to work. It allows people to just get out and recreate and enjoy themselves. It allows them to save time in their daily lives to be able to devote more of it to the things they love: their family, the outdoors, you name it.

“And I’ll tell you what: Our infrastructure, for too long, was in desperate need of repair,” Shapiro continued. “You know what? We’ve addressed that, and we’re in the process of continuing to address it.”

Major infrastructure projects often carry hefty price tags that local governments can’t afford on their own, which is why officials have applauded funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has poured millions into Allegheny County infrastructure repair and has created good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs, and for that we are immensely grateful,” Innamorato said.

With federal and state funding, Allegheny County has been able to significantly decrease the number of its bridges listed in poor condition, the county executive said. A decade ago, there were 65 county-owned bridges in poor condition; that number has dropped to 18.

U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democratic congressman whose district includes Neville Island and other Pittsburgh suburbs, pointed out that while the federal infrastructure legislation received some bipartisan support, a majority of the votes in favor of the bill came from Democrats.

“More than 90% of my Republican counterparts voted against this infrastructure spending, which is really changing lives around here, juicing our economy, giving us the infrastructure we need,” Deluzio said.