USGA’s application for grant money for third Oakmont pedestrian bridge rejected

The United States Golf Association’s application seeking Pennsylvania grant money to build a third pedestrian bridge at Oakmont Country Club has come up empty.

Last year, the USGA submitted an application for $5 million in funding from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program with the proposed plan to build a third bridge over the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The program announced its list of projects awarded funding on Thursday, and the Oakmont project was not granted any money.

Had the application been approved and the funding had been granted, the USGA said they would use the $5 million in state money and an additional $5.4 million in association funds to build a new bridge that could separate vehicle traffic and construction traffic from spectator foot traffic during the U.S. Open and other events.

Oakmont has hosted the U.S. Open a record ten times and is poised to host the tournament again multiple times in the coming years as an anchor site for the USGA.

During last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, more than 230,000 spectators attended the event throughout the week of the championship, creating “bottlenecks” on the existing bridges over the Turnpike.

It’s unclear whether the USGA or Oakmont Country Club will move forward with plans to build the third bridge on their own and without the state grant money.