PITTSBURGH — “I happened to be looking up at the bridge and it looked like a large silver object was falling, and I said to my husband, ‘Oh my gosh, it looks like something is falling off the bridge,’” Erin Milanovich told Channel 11.
What Erin Milanovich saw falling off the new Commercial Street Bridge was a light pole.
“I screamed, ‘Oh my gosh, STOP!” And he slammed on the brakes, and a large pole came plummeting into the road. Probably about 20 feet in front of the car,” she said.
That light pole ended up on the side of the road, snapped in half.
“It definitely could have had a disastrous ending for sure if it would have ended on top of our car,” she said.
A PennDOT spokesperson told Channel 11 that a bridge inspection was being completed, and one of the subcontractors accidentally backed into a light pole with their equipment, causing it to fall onto Commercial Street.
The spokesperson added — “This was an accident and not cause for concern with anything related to the new Commercial Street Bridge structure of lighting fixtures.”
“We use commercial multiple times a day. I feel, truly, they’ve been taking great care of the projects, and they’ve had everything up to standard. I truly think this is an isolated fluke incident, and I don’t foresee it happening again,” Milanovich added.
The spokesperson told us they’re discussing what happened with the consultant and the subcontractor — and guarantee any new protocols necessary will be added to make sure this won’t happen again.
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