When it comes to the City’s project proposal, you have questions and we have answers

Over the past month since the packed Strip District Public Meeting, we’ve been hearing a lot of questions online and in person about the City’s project to address some very real safety concerns and to add a proposed a parking protected bike lane on Penn Ave from 31st St to 22nd St. Connecting the Strip’s jobs and fresh food to the surrounding neighborhoods has long been a top priority of BikePGH. This project is one of five projects coming to improve safety in the Strip District.

In addition to the City’s recap of the meeting which has lots of useful info, we’ve compiled some of the questions we’ve been hearing since the May 1 public meeting into the following FAQ.

What is the proposal?

The first of the Strip District projects is called “Penn Ave Rightsizing.” According to the 2022 Strip District Mobility Plan, the “lack of an east-west connection is a critical gap in the City’s overall bicycle network,” and is also identified as a need in the City’s 2020 Bike(+) Plan.

After extensive traffic study and crash analysis, the City has proposed a design that reduces the number of through lanes on Penn to a single lane, while preserving just about all of the parking, while adding a parking protected bike lane on the right side of the road, between 31st St and 22nd St. Aside from some pedestrian-friendly interventions, they are proposing very little change between 22nd St and 16th St, maintaining the “share the road” condition for bicyclists to navigate over to the existing Penn Ave bike lanes that begin on the left side of the road at 16th St.

If all goes well, they are looking to install it in the summer of 2025.

Won’t reducing Penn Ave to one lane cause lots of traffic congestion?

One of the problems with Penn Ave is that cars are currently able to drive too fast for conditions, especially considering the high number of pedestrians in the corridor, which is leading to the high number of crashes. In simple terms, speed kills, so cars need to slow down.

Penn Ave sees on average about 4K cars per day. For comparison, Butler St in Lawrenceville, which is one lane in each direction (with no alternate parallel streets) sees about 10k cars per day, while Rt 28, also two lanes wide, sees 77K cars per day.

One of the reasons that Penn Ave sees so many crashes is because drivers are able to exceed the speed limit due to there being very little in their way. The existing two lanes with very little traffic, allow drivers to speed, pass dangerously, and drive the wrong way. The proposed changes will prevent that by slowing cars down to the speed limit, also giving drivers the chance to observe businesses along the corridor.

According to DOMI, by “reducing the travel lanes from two to one, DOMI anticipates being able to reduce crashes by up to 45% while also improving the user experience for more vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.”

Is Penn Ave really that dangerous?

The City says it best on their Engage Page: 

“In the five year period between 2018 and 2022 there were 115 accidents on Penn Ave. Of the 115 accidents, 45 resulted in injury and 13 involved pedestrians. To put this into the context of the other corridors in the Strip District, Penn Avenue has the highest ratio of crashes to traffic volume. It is the least travelled corridor, and second in crash volume.

The section of Penn Avenue between 27th and 30th Streets is the second most dangerous section of street in the City for pedestrians, and third most dangerous for all road users. As the Strip District continues to develop into a more residential neighborhood, the number of pedestrian/driver conflicts is likely to increase.”

This is an unacceptable number of crashes. Period.

Additionally, in March of 2024 Mayor Ed Gainey, in partnership with the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) and Councilmember Barb Warwick, announced the city is adopting Vision Zero. This announcement is a pledge to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries for all who use city streets to zero. As there are a high number of injuries on the corridor, this project aligns with these Vision Zero goals.

Won’t loading block the single lane? What loading zone changes will occur?

It’s important to get loading right for this project to succeed, and DOMI needs to hear from you on whether you need a loading zone or if your current loading zone is no longer needed. Otherwise, the existing loading zones will be preserved. DOMI staff are actively talking to businesses along the corridor to see what can be done to provide additional or expanded loading zones as needed. 

If you are a stakeholder or have questions or concerns about the project, please contact Infrastructure Engagement Specialist, Jan Raether at jan.raether@pittsburghpa.gov

What are the parking changes?

Parking was recognized as important for the business district. The design preserves most parking, but there may be some minimal loss to provide for loading zones, intersection safety, and sight distances.

Why is there no lane removal below 22nd?

Crashes below 22nd are lower speed and less frequent. The nature and uses of the street gets more complicated through this section, current speeds tend to already be pretty low, so DOMI found it best to leave it mostly untouched.

What are the future changes below 22nd Street?

The Penn Ave Traffic Signal Improvement Project is in the works, due in the full corridor in 2026/27. Additionally there will be some changes to improve the pedestrian experience in this section, such as improving sidewalks, curb bump outs and traffic calming but DOMI is still working on the details.

Why not try out other traffic calming interventions first?

It’s important to recognize that simply reducing the number of lanes that pedestrians need to cross Penn Ave will have positive safety outcomes. Removing a lane for the Penn Ave bike lanes from 16th to the Point reduced pedestrian crashes by 32%. A single lane is simply one of the simplest, most effective ways to slow cars down.

Will there be traffic light changes?

The Penn Ave Traffic Signal Improvement Project is in the works, due in the full corridor in 2026/27. The final design of this project will determine the details of the signal project.

Are changes permanent?

That is the goal. However, using quick build materials such as paint, flexposts and rubber curb stops, will allow DOMI to learn, adapt and make changes as needed until the Penn Ave Signals project is completed. They are not digging up road, nor are they laying concrete for the bike lane project, so it will be simple to make adjustments.

What about turning trucks?

DOMI models all turning movements as part of final design, but are looking to users of the roadway to provide feedback on their needs.

What about an outbound bike lane?

DOMI is concurrently working on new designs in a separate project to create bike lanes for residents using bicycles in the outbound direction on Smallman St. This will have its own community outreach plan, but is not currently funded. They are seeking grants at the moment.

What about bike lanes on Liberty?

There is a planned redesign of Liberty Ave, called the Liberty Ave Highway Safety Improvement Project, or HSIP. There were never plans to include bike lanes on Liberty Ave, except for a couple blocks around 32nd St to connect the existing Liberty Ave bike lanes from Bloomfield to the Strip District. This is on the Bike(+) Plan.

What about the trail?

The existing trail bypasses the business district and ends at 27th St. According to the Strip District Mobility Plan, “the portion of the trail in the Strip District has been constructed in a piecemeal fashion by developers. In some locations, the ground material is not suitable for bicycle use.”

Due to existing rights of way issues, we don’t see any movement on this connection anytime in the near future, while the existing traffic safety issues on Penn Ave will remain.

What’s the timeline and how are you dealing with construction conflicts?

DOMI hopes to have the outreach wrapped up in 2024, so that the Penn Ave project can be installed in Spring of 2025. The Liberty Ave Project is expected to last until 2027, the Smallman St project to be worked on in 2025-26, and the Penn Ave signals, between 2026-27. DOMI is actively working to ensure that the overlap of the projects are minimized as much as possible.

What’s next?

Please take a moment and leave your comments on the City’s Engage Page.

Follow along on our page dedicated to the Strip District and sign onto our campaign, Safe Trips in the Strip, to be the first to find out about upcoming meetings, Action Alerts, and developments.