City overpasses become a tool for a growing protest movement

From the Brinton Road Overpass, Lucinda Beattie has only a few seconds to reach each driver passing below.

So the message has to be big.

Once a week, Beattie and a small group stand above the traffic holding banners that turn an ordinary Pittsburgh overpass into a political billboard — one of a growing number of bridges in the area being used for weekly protests. 

In a region where bridges are as much a part of the landscape and identity as the rivers and hills they cross, some are taking on a new role.

“It's a way of reaching people who are outside the normal bubble,” she said. “In other words, those commuters coming in from Westmoreland County and east of here, chances are a lot of them are more conservative than the folks in the East End of Pittsburgh, and it’s a chance for them to see some messages they might not otherwise see.”

The Pittsburgh Overpass Project is a coalition of teams that have adopted overpasses in Allegheny County for regular banner displays. Beattie leads the Brinton Road Overpass and is retired from a local nonprofit.

The number of protests on Pittsburgh’s bridges has grown in the last year. Since July 3, 2025, the Overpass Project has adopted nine overpasses, seven of which list weekly events on the website’s calendar.

“A lot of the places that do bridges outside of here are doing them over major highways like Turnpikes,” she said. “And we’re doing it over the many bridges that are right around here; I mean there are so many.”

Adopted overpasses listed on the website include Charles Lieberth Pedestrian Overpass, Greenfield Bridge, Greentree Road Overpass, Route 51 & Lebanon Church Cloverleaf Overpass, Chestnut Street Overpass, Tripoli Street Bridge, Garden City Drive, Edgewood Overpass, and Brinton Road Overpass.

Beattie learned about the project when it was still just an idea. It started when Brad Ankney, who kickstarted the project, made a social media post about the Backbone Campaign in Seattle, wondering if Pittsburgh could do something similar. 

The Backbone Campaign provides information to support and build other activist movements, according to its website. It was from them that the Overpass Project adopted the idea of bannering over bridges. 

Ankney is a retired teacher and called the Backbone Campaign a mentor. 

“We have brought together people, good people, who would have never met otherwise,” Ankney said. “This isn't something where we gathered up our friends and went out to an overpass. This is something that people learned about and became passionate about.”

All the banners and materials the group needs are held within a shared storage locker. A donor who participates in the Brinton Overpass group rents it.

“When we get a new group that is interested in overpass work,” Ankney said. “We will sponsor their banner-making with the materials and get them all set up to go.”

While banners, ideas, and resources are shared at the Overpass Project, each group decides on their messages.

“Some teams do a more democratic approach than others,” Ankney said. “But typically anybody who stands behind a banner would agree with that banner, or they probably would not be there.”

Banners displayed over the last year have largely protested actions and policies of the Trump administration, with messages including “Unmask ICE,” “Peace on Earth,” “Democracy Has No Kings” and “Tax the Rich.” 

Most of the people organizing are retirees, said Janet Lunde, organizer and leader of the Greenfield Overpass. She is a retired scrum lead on software development projects.

She learned about the Overpass Project through its protests. When Ankney started meet-ups on the Greenfield Bridge, Lunde showed up as soon as she heard, because it’s only a mile from her house. Eventually, Ankney asked if someone else could take over the lead, and she volunteered.

“It's never happened that we had too few people want to come,” Lunde said. “But if we did, we would cancel because I don't think it's safe for just like two people to be there”

Since the Greenfield Bridge is taller, the group creates larger banners for better visibility from the parkway. The Greenfield banners are 40 inches tall while others are between 7.5 and 30 inches tall.

To create a banner, letters are cut out of vinyl tarps, attached to plastic netting by punching small holes in the letters and placing a zip tie to attach it to the netting through that hole.

“We're standing behind the words we have up on the thing, " she said. “So if someone comes with words that don't agree with our beliefs, we're not interested in putting that sign up.”

Beattie said she’s been politically active since after college when, at the 1971 Democratic National Convention, she and a group represented the Youth Caucus. Protesting each week gives her agency.

“There’s just a feeling of depression, you know; it's like, what can I do?” Beattie said. “This is like every week, and it's only a couple hours every week, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something.”

Moving into the midterms, she said the group will focus messaging on voting. Another goal, she said, is to have groups plan to be out during each rush hour on bridges over Interstate 376 to reach more people before the election on Nov. 3.

“I wish we could get people who would do the bridges over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It'd be great to get more people,” Beattie said. “I think there probably are people out there who would be willing to do this kind of work. They just don't know about it or how to get involved.”

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Cassandra Harris is a reporter with the Pittsburgh Media Partnership newsroom.  A spring 2026 graduate of Point Park University, Cassandra interned at Pittsburgh Magazine, Pittsburgh Latino Magazine, and The Homepage Newspaper. Reach her at cassandra.harris@pointpark.edu.

‍The PMP Newsroom is a regional news service that focuses on government and enterprise reporting in southwestern Pennsylvania. Find out more information on foundation and corporate funders here.

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Header image: Members of the Pittsburgh Overpass Project create a FUND HEALTHCARE NOT WAR banner at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church in May. Courtesy of Janet Lunde