[1] The lack of approach ramps meant the bridge ended in midair, rendering it useless.

On December 12, 1964, Frederick Williams, a 21-year-old chemistry major at the University of Pittsburgh from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, drove his 1959 Chrysler station wagon through the bridge's wooden barricades, raced off the end of the bridge, and landed upside-down but unhurt on the other side, 190 feet away at the north bank of the Allegheny River.

With thousands of vehicles bearing these stickers on Pittsburgh's streets, the city responded by blocking off the end of the bridge with concrete barriers.

[citation needed] The northwestern ramps were completed in 1969, allowing access to Pennsylvania Route 65, while the northeastern ramps were completed in 1986, with the construction of the northern section of Interstate 279 (North Shore Expressway) which runs through Downtown Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle and north towards Interstate 79.

[citation needed] The bridge touches down halfway between Heinz Field and PNC Park Baseball Stadium on the City's North Shore.