By Adam Babetski
Published by Trib Live | September 22, 2026
Read the article on TribLive
Mike Hiller had just taken over as executive director of Upstream, a Pittsburgh group focused on protecting urban waterways, when the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed on Jan. 28, 2022, sending tons of steel into the creek below and damaging its ecosystem.
The collapse injured 10 people, three of whom were hospitalized. As PennDOT crews cleaned up the wreckage in Frick Park and began work on a replacement bridge, Hiller began thinking beyond simply repairing the damage.
The creek, he believed, had endured decades of man-made pollution. It was time to give it an upgrade, too.
Upstream recently revealed its initial plan to reinvigorate the Fern Hollow ecosystem by building eco-friendly infrastructure to absorb and redirect rainwater all the way south to Nine Mile Run, backed by around $800,000 in state and federal grants the group won over the past four years.
Upstream restored Nine Mile Run in 2006 as one of its first major projects as a group, and Hiller wants to finish the job with Fern Hollow, its largest above-ground tributary.
“We used what was a tragedy and turned it into an opportunity to have a further asset for the community,” Hiller said.
Fern Hollow extends 2.7 miles from Frick Park to the Homewood Cemetery. Dense foliage lines its banks, and it hosts Tranquil Trail, a popular walking path.
“It’s a very forested, special place where you can feel like you’re not quite in the city, but you’re just steps away from Braddock Avenue,” Hiller said.
Upstream observed significant damage to the area around the creek following the Fern Hollow Bridge’s collapse, including destroyed trees and debris in the riparian zone — the buffer of plants where a body of water meets the shore.
PennDOT had to create an additional “area of disturbance” as a staging ground for the replacement bridge and cleared some trees, Hiller said. However, the department planted replacements once the new bridge opened that December, he said.
Fern Hollow has lost much of its flow over the years as pipes from various buildings and structures have siphoned away rainwater, Hiller said.
Upstream brought in technical experts from the Army Corps of Engineers to study the ecosystem’s hydrology, eventually producing a plan that would return rainwater to the creek with a series of pipes and miniature watersheds connecting the neighborhoods into the valley.
Since every funding dollar is precious, Upstream is targeting certain areas of the ecosystem instead of trying to address every foot of Fern Hollow Creek, Hiller said.
For example, some of the water pouring onto the streets of adjacent Regent Square during a storm would soak into Upstream’s carefully placed “green infrastructure bumpouts” of native plants and trees, filtering out pollution and heading down steep hills into Frick Park, Hiller said. The parking lot at the terminus of the Biddle Trail and Braddock Trail would have similar features under the plan.
Upstream is also proposing to transform a portion of Regent Square’s Gamma Way — an alleyway that intersects with Henrietta Street — into a “Green Alley” with plant life to absorb runoff. Full details of Upstream’s findings and proposals are available online.
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor was among the local government officials who showed up in support at Upstream’s press conference to announce details of the plan last week. But there is still the long-term task of raising money for the actual construction, Hiller said.
“We like to say that the Fern Hollow restoration is a five-year plan, so that’s our hope,” he said.
In the meantime, Upstream is pushing PennDOT to address issues with the stormwater draining openings — called scuppers — it installed on the new Fern Hollow Bridge, which Hiller said is spraying water into Fern Hollow from above and causing erosion.
“That is something that we are hopeful we can work with PennDOT to remediate,” he said.
PennDOT spokeswoman Nicole Haney responded that the agency had placed diffusers and stones along the creek when the new bridge opened to help with erosion control and slow down discharged water. She added that the city is responsible for the bridge’s ongoing maintenance.
