Serpentine Drive in Schenley Park, today, 23 July 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

23 July 2026: A look back 7 years, 2019-2026

Seven years ago this month I was walking through Schenley Park to the Squirrel Hill business district when my pedestrian plans were detoured because a huge paving truck had fallen off the Serpentine Road(**) and overturned on the hillside. Everything was blocked off.

The presence of a huge paving truck in early July was normal. The City typically repaved the Serpentine just ahead of the Vintage Grand Prix (VGP) that uses this route in Schenley Park. But something had gone radically wrong.

Photo of the accident from Pittsburgh Public Safety Dept, 10 July 2019

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The driver of a tri-axle truck has been rescued after the vehicle plunged over a hillside late Wednesday morning [July 10, 2019] in Squirrel Hill.

The truck crashed around 10:45 a.m. at the intersection of Serpentine Drive and Bartlett Street, and dropped about 50 feet over a hillside. It happened in the Panther Hollow area of Schenley Park. …

“From initial reports, it appears part of the hillside gave way, and again, they’re doing work on the roadway. They’re milling it and repaving it,” Pittsburgh Police spokesperson Chris Togneri said. “We’re not sure what caused the vehicle to go over. We’re not even sure if it was moving or stationary at this point, but it was fully loaded with asphalt.” …

The road was closed while crews worked to clear the scene. Park rangers also closed a trail below the hillside to prevent hikers from entering the area.

No word on when Serpentine Drive will reopen to traffic as the road is still unsafe, according to police.

Here’s the Serpentine where it happened, highlighted in purple on Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s Schenley Park map. **NOTE: I call it Serpentine Road (it’s a ‘Burgh thing) but its real name is Serpentine Drive.

Map of Schenley Park, added purple to mark Serpentine Road (map from Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy)

The road closed on 10 July 2019 and it took seven years to restore the wall, mostly due to funding. The slideshow below chronicles the Serpentine from 2019 to 2026, beginning with a Google StreetView snapshot of Serpentine Drive in June 2019. That’s the only photo I could find of the old road. The last seven photos were taken this morning.

Serpentine Drive: The hole in the wall 2019 to 2026

In 2021, pictured in the slideshow, the City opened one lane for cars and one lane for everyone else, divided by a jersey barrier. Neither cars nor humans liked this compromise.

So for seven years we all got used to not driving on the Serpentine. What a lovely thing to walk or bicycle on this scenic road without having to worry about cars.

The City held a public input process, before the wall was done, to find out whether people wanted to open it to cars or leave it bike-pedestrian only. The overwhelming answer was Bike-Pedestrian Only.

Meanwhile cars have been very unhappy since the Panther Hollow Bridge closed in Fall 2024 (it is slated to reopen next month). As soon as the Serpentine wall was done, cars argued that they should be allowed to use the Serpentine. City Council held a public hearing. My Council representative Erika Strassburger was quoted at TribLive:

Strassburger said the issue seems to be a microcosm of a broader debate around who has the right to use certain spaces and how people move through the city. She acknowledged “valid concerns on both sides of the issue” but said the majority of people who have voiced their opinions expressed a desire to keep the road closed to traffic.

“I believe it’s time to put this to bed and move on,” she said, explaining the city has other issues to tackle. “This is a decision that has already been made.”

Cars will start to get happy as soon as the Panther Hollow Bridge reopens and will be ecstatic when the Anderson Bridge reopens. Hang on, cars. Good things are coming even though it feels like forever.

p.s. The Anderson Bridge closure is the worst. It prohibits everything — cars, bicycles, pedestrians, etc.