BikePGH Official Public Statement on Penn Ave Rightsizing – Oct. 16, 2025

Here’s the latest Penn Ave design from the City, and what we think about it.

Breaking news + Strip District Update: The City has struck a deal to more forward with Penn Ave Rightsizing

Penn Ave Rightsizing Statement October 16, 2025 Penn Ave in the Strip District has a safety problem, due mostly to how fast drivers are able to speed. The City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure set out to correct this problem. In 2014, the City began work to connect Downtown to Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Polish Hill, and the Strip District with safe and easy-to-use bike lanes. They installed a bike lane from 16th St to the Point, which over the past decade has proven popular and has succeeded in reducing congestion, crashes and injuries for all road users. However, east of 16th St, the project remained unfinished, leaving a chaotic and dangerous trip through the Strip District. Many locals from the surrounding neighborhoods depend on getting to and through the Strip for their job or for basic needs. Due to these issues, the City proposed a project to extend the single inbound lane on Penn from 31st Street to 22nd Street that would increase safety, connectivity, and access to one of Pittsburgh’s most important neighborhoods for employment, shopping, and fresh fruits and vegetables. There are up to 14 lanes through the Strip District for moving or parking cars. Using a single lane to change the street alignment will help address serious safety concerns, and increase access to the Strip District for residents from the Strip and surrounding communities. Even after extensive outreach and community meetings, in addition to numerous traffic and safety studies, it’s unfortunate that the discourse around a road safety project got so ugly, seemingly pitting safety against business interests. It’s clear that we all love the Strip District and want it to succeed. We believe that good projects such as the City’s Penn Ave Rightsizing proposal can benefit both safety and business interests, and we are confident that the City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure did their due diligence to develop such a plan. While the original plan has been altered, the new design adds clarity to Penn Ave that includes safety features to reduce aggressive driving, makes it easier for pedestrians to cross the street, and provides space for residents who ride a bike. We are grateful that a consensus has seemingly been reached, and welcome the improvements to safety, not just for people riding bikes, but also for those who are walking, driving and taking transit to the Strip District. Every Pittsburgher should be able to get around safely, whether they bike, walk, take the bus, or drive. Our city flourishes when it is interconnected. No matter what area of Pittsburgh we live in, when residents can safely use multiple modes of transportation to access the rest of the city, our neighborhoods, communities, and small businesses thrive.
View the City’s design here

—

3 people biking on Penn Ave, inbound

Background

Thousands of Pittsburghers travel to and through the Strip every day on their commutes and for shopping and visiting. Yet roads in the Strip remain confusing, aggressive, and dangerous. A project to make the Strip easily and safely accessible for pedestrians and bicyclists began in 2014 but was never completed.

As the Strip and surrounding areas boom with new housing and office space, now is the time to finish the job and complete this crucial transportation infrastructure. If we only plan for cars, we’re only going to get more cars. And I think it’s safe to say we can all agree that more cars is not good for anyone.

Due to a car-oriented road design, speeding cars make walking and biking dangerous, limiting access for residents and neighbors who would like to get to and from the Strip District for fresh food, entertainment, shopping or work. Providing safe and connected bikeways and sidewalks will ensure that jobs, food, and amenities are available to all, regardless of if they drive a car.

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.

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.

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.

“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.” – Penn Ave Rightsizing Engage Page

This is an unacceptable number of crashes. Period.

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.

Leave a Reply