Winter maintenance lapses endanger pedestrians and cyclists

By Phil Hnatkovich, communications contributor

The topic of winter conditions on city bridges is guaranteed to generate eye rolls and expletives from the pedestrians who regularly cross them. There are many larger bridges than the one at South Millvale Avenue in Bloomfield but, at least in this author’s experience, few others generate as much unbridled angst when mentioned in conversation.

@Pgh311 millvale bridge sidewalks are never cleared or treated. This is from this morning. Very treacherous. pic.twitter.com/zFZ9IGaRuP

— Funky Donut (@mrfd_funkydonut) January 26, 2016

Uncleared, untreated walkways on the S Millvale Bridge have been par for the course for years. Occasionally, after significant snowfalls, impassable sidewalks force pedestrians into the bike lane — which is itself often obstructed by snow cleared from the vehicular lane. As regular commuters have observed, the wall constructed between the sidewalk and traffic lane forces pedestrians to choose between two undesirable options before crossing the span: braving the dangerous walkway or walking adjacent to traffic on the shoulder.

A functional outgrowth of rugged topography, it is one in a chain of East End bridges built to carry vehicular traffic over the steep valley that holds the Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line — and, after 1983, the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway. And yet it has found enduring purpose as active modes of transportation expand, connecting residents in some of the most walkable eastern neighborhoods — Bloomfield, Garfield, and Lawrenceville — with the economic center of Oakland. Bloomfield, for its part, has one of the highest shares of walking and biking commuters in the city.

Bridge users have registered annual complaints through the official channels available to them, including the 311 system, city council offices, and the Department of Public Works. Bloomfield Livable Streets, a neighborhood organization, has worked to draw attention to deteriorating conditions for pedestrians on South Millvale. Brenton Weinert, Community Relations Coordinator for City Council District 7, characterized the bridge as a “frequent issue” among constituents; in response, the District 7 office has worked to raise the issue with Public Works and the Mayor’s Office. Stressing the difficulty of snow removal in the current design, a recent email response from Public Works to a Bloomfield Livable Streets inquiry indicated that a better plan for maintenance was underway. Still, to date, none of these contacts have resulted in a significant improvement in winter upkeep.

This problem is part of a general one with city bridges, which lie in an official responsibility gap. While residents and private businesses are responsible for winter upkeep on sidewalks on their properties, maintenance of bridges like Millvale falls to Public Works. The Mayor’s Office has previously acknowledged the need for better maintenance planning for the bridges.

@mj_in_pitt @Pgh311 Discovered there are no snow/ice removal plans for most pedestrian bridge walks, stairs, trails, etc – creating it now!

— bill peduto (@billpeduto) February 4, 2015

City road crews do hard work during snow emergencies and it is true that bridges present their own logistical challenges when it comes to snow removal. Bruce Chan, chair of Bloomfield Livable Streets, believes that these problems show the need for updated designs “that are better for all users in times of good and bad weather.” The biggest design flaw? The wall between the sidewalks and vehicular lanes. These barriers, besides limiting options from snow removal from the sidewalks, “encourage people driving to be more reckless, since the pedestrians are ‘out of sight, out of mind.'” In the case of South Millvale, such a wall was added during a rehabilitation project in 2008.

Chan points to the South Highland Avenue Bridge as an example of a good redesign. By eliminating a steel wall, the 2013 renovation “encourages vehicles to drive slower and safer,” creates space for new seating and lighting, and provides for easier maintenance. Like Highland, Chan muses, “can’t bridges like the Millvale Bridge have a facelift which would not only improve the winter maintenance of it, but also the utilization of it as more than just a thoroughfare?”

Our topography means we continue to be reliant on our heritage infrastructure, with bridges being the most visible and most important. As our population uses them in different ways, the question remains of how they will evolve. Yet as recent experience under Winter Storm Jonas has demonstrated (see here, here, here, and here), this is not a problem limited to two sidewalks on one bridge, nor is it of marginal concern to the many who rely on safe sidewalks in a Northern, cold-climate city. This is an issue that we must prioritize soon.

The current City administration has shown a commitment to complete streets principles in other areas. We remain optimistic that future planning will yield better results on Millvale and other city bridges.

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