City proposes changes to every major road in the Strip District - Here's a breakdown

City proposes changes to every major road in the Strip District – Here’s a breakdown

Each major street in the Strip is getting a redesign. How will this improve biking and walking?

Thousands of Pittsburghers travel to and through the Strip District every day for commuting, shopping and visiting. Yet roads in the Strip remain some of the most confusing, aggressive, and dangerous, especially for people who walk, bike and take transit. This should be an easy commute for those without a vehicle.

In 2014, the City installed the Penn Ave bike lanes, a project that made Downtown easier and safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, but was never completed into the Strip District and eastern neighborhoods as planned – something we’ve been pushing for with our Safe Trips in the Strip campaign.

The Strip District provides fresh food to residents in the surrounding neighborhoods such as Polish Hill, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Downtown, and East Allegheny. It’s also the main corridor to access the Downtown job center. Making sure it’s safe and easy to bike and walk in the Strip District will make sure it’s safer and easier for those who need to drive there as well. A healthy business district relies on people accessing it through all modes of transportation, not just cars.

The Penn Ave bike lanes successfully reduced crashes for people walking and biking while increasing these activities in the corridor. Additionally, the project helped reduce car traffic backing up at intersections such as 16th St.

As the Strip and surrounding areas boom, and more parking lots get built, the City needs to also plan for how people get to and through the Strip District without needing to drive and park a car.

As we’ve seen, if we only plan for cars, we’re only going to get cars.

Mayor Gainey’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) is preparing to finally figure this out.

At a public meeting on September 12 at the Heinz History Center, DOMI staff were available to discuss the multiple projects that they are coordinating to improve mobility, transportation, and deliveries in the Strip District, as outlined in the City’s Complete Streets Policy. These projects include everything from retiming of traffic lights on Penn Ave to a redesign of Liberty Ave.

Follow DOMI’s Strip District Mobility Engage Page for the latest information, updates and to leave comments.

Below is a summary of the major project proposals. Please take a minute to review the projects and leave some comments about both the things you like or think need to be improved.

Read on and we’ll show you how!

Smallman Street “Complete Street”

Engage Page: Smallman Street “Complete Street”

What to know: The project aims to install an outbound dedicated bike lane from 21st St (where the bike lanes terminate) to 31st St. The inbound bicycling facility will be included as part of the Penn Ave Signals Project (see below). Then, as part of the Liberty Ave HSIP project (see below), the bike lanes will connect to the existing Liberty Ave bike lanes that head up to Bloomfield. Due to the changing widths of Smallman St, there is no “typical” cross section, but DOMI intends to use a mix of protected bike lanes and standard bike lanes in the project. Parking will likely be affected in this stretch, but much of it is free.

What we liked: Since Smallman St is currently one lane in each direction, riding here usually feels sketchy, especially heading outbound during the afternoon rush hour, as drivers have very little room or patience to pass the people on bikes trying to commute home. This is the main bike commuter route between Downtown and the eastern neighborhoods, so a dedicated bike lane in the outbound direction will help create a safer connection for these commuting residents who ride bicycles.

Our Feedback: We’d love to see this project extended a few more blocks to connect to the Lawrenceville Neighborway. The City recently built a new trail that goes under the 40th St bridge between 39th St and Willow St, so we should tie into this recent investment. It just makes sense to redesign all of Smallman St while we’re focusing the time, energy and resources on it, instead of a working on it one section at a time. There is community support for this.

Funding: Currently unfunded. City leaders have requested that the project be included in the Mayor’s 2024 Capital Budget. Expressing support for the project will help secure funding.

How to provide comment: Currently, the best way to provide comment is on the general Strip District Mobility Open House Engage Page. There is no commenting available on the project specific page, but we expect that feature to be available soon.”

Penn Ave Signal Improvements

Engage Page: Penn Ave Road Diet

What to know: The City will be replacing a number of ancient traffic lights along Penn Ave through the heart of the Strip District. The project creates an opportunity to rethink how Penn Ave serves drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and deliveries. In short, the lane configuration on Penn Ave will change to include an exclusive bike lane, reduce the “regular” travel lanes to one, and include more dedicated loading areas, while leaving parking relatively untouched. Additionally, in the “heart of the Strip” they are proposing a heavily traffic calmed, “pedestrian first” shared-lane experience for motorists and bicyclists leading to the existing Penn Ave bike lanes at 16th St. There will likely be future public meetings about this project.

What we liked: There is no reason that Penn Ave needs two inbound motor vehicle lanes – as many inbound lanes as Rt 51, Rt 28, or Bigelow Blvd. This configuration has unsurprisingly resulted in highway level speeds (as high as 87mph) and a large number of crashes. Dedicated bike lanes will formalize what many people on bikes are already doing – taking a lane on Penn Ave. This clarity will hopefully slow drivers down to the marked 25mph speed limit, and reduce aggressive passing – the source of many crashes. We also like prioritizing pedestrians in the “heart of the Strip District,” in the hopes of making it feel that cars are guests and that pedestrians rule.

Our Feedback:

When working with narrow sidewalks, there has been a pattern across the City of installing modern traffic signal poles in the middle of the sidewalk and we hope that DOMI will do everything in their power to make sure this doesn’t occur.

There is a section where the bike lanes disappear in the heart of the Strip to make the street “pedestrian forward,” meaning heavy traffic calming that prioritizes pedestrian movement. We hope that this will be robust enough to do the job, and allow for bikes to comfortably share the space with motor vehicles.

We’d encourage that the bike lanes continue to the Penn/Butler intersection to make the connection for people riding to/from the Lawrenceville business district.

We encourage the increase in loading zones to be substantial enough and regulated enough to work. Otherwise, we all know that delivery vehicles will park in the bike lanes.

Funding: Funded through the Federal CMAQ Program, but not scheduled until 2025. However, some parts of the project, such as paint, can happen earlier.

Liberty Ave HSIP

Engage Page: Liberty Ave Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)

What to know: The Liberty Avenue Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) will aim to increase safety for vehicles and pedestrians alike in the Strip District. The program will include upgrades and improvements for traffic signals, pedestrian safety, traffic safety, and transit access. In short, it will reduce Liberty Ave from four lanes to three, and concurrent with this redesign will be pedestrian and transit safety improvements like “bump outs,” wider sidewalks, bus shelters, and refuge islands, among a long list of other changes.

What we liked: Liberty Ave is currently a highway, with a known history of crashes. It is especially dangerous for pedestrians who must cross all four lanes to access transit. There have been a number of pedestrian fatalities over the years. The lane diet should reduce aggressive driving and encourage drivers to travel the speed limit. Fewer lanes to cross means fewer chances of problems for pedestrians. We also like that the project is putting an emphasis on improving transit through the corridor.

Our Feedback:

There is some challenging topography along Liberty Ave limiting the ability to widen sidewalks and bus stops. While we recognize that, we hope that the interventions are effective in slowing cars to the speed limit, currently 25mph.

We would like to see the existing inbound Liberty Ave Bike Lanes connect to Penn Ave without creating a “shared lane” on Liberty Ave. This small stretch between Heron, where the bike lanes currently end, and 31st St should include a dedicated bike lane.

Every proposed turning lane may not be necessary, especially if it comes at the expense of protecting bicyclists and pedestrians. Please evaluate, especially in the stretch between Heron and 31st St.

Funding: Funded through the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) program.

How to provide comment: You can provide comment (or ask questions) on the project specific page as well as on the general Strip District Mobility Open House Engage Page.

28th St Bridge Rehabilitation

Engage Page: 28th Street Bridge Project

What to know: This is mainly a bridge rehabilitation project, but they are proposing a widening of the sidewalks to create a 10’ shared use path in each direction.

What we liked: This project will help create a needed connection between Polish Hill and the Strip, increasing accessibility to jobs and fresh food. It will connect to the existing Brereton St bike lanes and eliminate the narrow “shared lane” experience that currently exists across the bridge.

Our Feedback:

We really love this project.

We want to be sure that the bike connection is integrated into the Liberty Ave and Penn Ave projects.

Funding: Funded.

How to provide comment: You can provide comment (or ask questions) on the project specific page as well as on the general Strip District Mobility Open House Engage Page.