Help #ExtendPenn: Attend the Kickoff Meeting for the Strip District Mobility Plan on Thurs. June 6

What do you want the Future of the Strip to look like? Let the City know on Thursday, June 6th.

Councilwoman Deb Gross and the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) secured funding in the City’s 2019 Capital Budget to figure out the mobility needs, coordinate the development and create a Strip District Mobility Network and Parking Management Plan. According to DOMI, a “successful plan will provide district wide solutions to ease parking and congestion, improve safety and accessibility and make the Strip an even better place to work, visit, live and play.”

DOMI is working with Stantec consultants to gather “input from district residents, workers, property owners, and stakeholders to help prioritize the precious public right-of-way to better accommodate safe, convenient and affordable modes of travel.”

Until now, there has been no plan to manage the increased traffic, parking, biking and walking demand on Strip District streets. An upshot in the bicycle and pedestrian load, multiple new housing developments, new offices, deliveries, autonomous vehicle testing and a planned 8,000 new parking spaces make it clear that the City needs to figure out how to manage the demands of these multiple user groups in this dense neighborhood sandwiched between Downtown, Lawrenceville, Polish Hill and the Allegheny River.

Two Opportunities for feedback

Join the Kickoff Meeting:

  • Date: Thursday, June 6
  • Time: 6-8pm
  • Location: 20th & Penn Artist Market, 5199 20th St
  • Facebook RSVP: http://bit.ly/2WCGtuR

Participate in the Parklet Pop-Up:

See the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure’s website for more details.

It’s been a long road to this point

In 2014, the City converted the outbound lane on Penn Avenue to a protected bidirectional bike lane. At the time, Mayor Peduto expressed the need to extend these bike lanes into the surrounding neighborhoods so that they would see their full potential. This gave us hope that the City was working on the vital connection to Lawrenceville,  Bloomfield and points east – neighborhoods with some of the highest bike commuter rates in the City.

Five years later, despite their clear popularity, there has been slow progress on extending the bike lanes, or any eastward alternative. Meanwhile, multiple housing developments, new offices, and autonomous vehicle testing have increased the motorized traffic in this same corridor, with a planned 8,000 new parking spaces within these developments. If we increase the number of people living and working in a neighborhood without providing safe biking and walking facilities, it’s no surprise that people will drive.

This should be an easy bike commute

Last year, the reconstruction of Smallman St initiated a redesign of the travel lanes from 16th to 21st Streets. The process also initiated the launch of our #ExtendPenn campaign that is seeking to connect the Penn Ave Bike Lanes to the east. After months of public meetings and conversation, the City agreed to install bike lanes, on-street parking, and a pedestrian plaza, while a private developer will be adding a new parking garage, all within this 5-block segment.

But what happens in the rest of the Strip District remained a mystery. The conversations around the Smallman St redesign made it painfully obvious that we need to approach the parking, bicycling, pedestrian, cargo, cabs, automobile, and transit needs in this tight corridor in a holistic, comprehensive way. June 6 Kickoff Meeting to figure out the Strip District’s Mobility Issues

Questions? Contact Angie Martinez, Transportation Planner, City of Pittsburgh Department of Mobility and Infrastructure: angela.martinez@pittsburghpa.gov or see the City’s website.

We Need Your Help to Extend Penn

Extending the Penn Ave bike lanes will serve more residents while helping reduce the traffic burden that the new developments and autonomous vehicles have created. We can solve multiple problems at the same time by making this bikeway on-ramp into a bike highway.

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