In a significant development in the long-standing dispute following the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse, Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak announced that the City of Pittsburgh has proposed a settlement to the victims. Per the TribLive report, a resolution was forwarded to the City Council that seeks to authorize a $500,000 payment, the maximum amount allowable under the city's liability cap, to be spread among those who suffered in the 2022 incident.

Lawyers representing the victims had not been expecting this move from the city, with legal battles stretching over two years since the bridge succumbed to a wintry morning, injuring eight. Despite their surprise, Jason Matzus, an attorney for one of the injured, expressed relief at the city's decision. He said, according to a TribLive article, “It appears the city has finally come to its senses and did what it could have, and should have, done from day one — pay the full liability limits into court rather than defend the indefensible and fight our clients and force them into litigation," indicating a long period of what they perceived as resistance from the city to act responsibly.

This gesture comes after increasing discontent among the victims, with reports of their growing impatience featured in TribLive in August. The city's Law Department has been instructed to address the legalities of this resolution. Beyond the financial aspects, the city's initiative symbolizes a move towards closure for those involved.

Investigations into the bridge's failure by the National Transportation Safety Board cast a shadow on the city's infrastructure oversight, pinpointing severe corrosion and neglect as leading culprits behind the collapse. Outlining the lawsuit details disclosed attorneys' claims of negligence stretching across four city administrations and the engineering firms hired for bridge maintenance. According to these complaints, as reported by WPXI, emotional trauma and examples of negligence were extensively documented in hopes of proving the city's and engineering firms' liabilities. These efforts led to the current settlement proposition, which, if approved, could concretize the city's acknowledgement of its part in the unfortunate event.