Will PennDOT’s Penn Ave Safety Changes Make a Difference?

PennDOT’s plans call for retiming the signals on Penn Ave, but not much else

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Penn Ave in Point Breeze is ranked the 11th most dangerous street in the State of Pennsylvania due to literally hundreds of crashes that take place along the corridor between Fifth Ave and South Braddock.

Everyone who travels this corridor by foot, bike or car knows it is a crazy four-lane stretch where cars move fast, and then weave when a car in their lane slows to make a turn.

BikePGH believes that by narrowing Penn Ave to two lanes and designing in specific turning lanes at key intersections and adding real time traffic signals a la CMUs Traffic-21 initiative, PennDOT will not only be able to significantly reduce crashes, but also keep traffic moving in a more orderly way at safer speeds. The extra street capacity would be devoted to bike lanes thus increasing the level of service for bikes and providing a much needed buffer between the sidewalk and the cartway, giving pedestrians some much-needed breathing room.

Check out the story in KDKA here.

 

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