Infrastructure Updates
Check back here often for the latest updates and action alerts regarding bike and pedestrian related infrastructure projects in the City of Pittsburgh and surrounding municipalities.
Last updated 11/12/24.
Take action to support these upcoming & in-progress projects…
> E Ohio St Streetscaping– The City is designing a $1.5 Million “streetscape” project, part of which will be built in 2026 to improve safety along E Ohio St for vulnerable road users. Share your comments on the recently published draft plan.
> Saw Mill Run Valley Site Development – The City & Watersheds of South Pittsburgh are working to implement a plan to create a “green boulevard” along Saw Mill Run that would include biking and walking trails. You can help by taking a survey on the Engage page.
> Brownsville Rd Safety Plan – DOMI has published its draft of the Brownsville Rd Corridor Safety Plan, which we’re excited to see includes bike lanes and much needed pedestrian safety improvements!
> Butler St Bike Lanes – DOMI is working to establish a shared-use path along Butler Street between 57th Street and One Wild Place (approximately 1.6 miles). This is in the early stages of planning, but would be a major win for biking and walking safety in the area!
> PRT’s Bus Rapid Transit University Line – PRT has plans to include protected bike lanes between the Cathedral of Learning, in Oakland, to Duquesne University, at the entry to Downtown. Due to start construction in 2025, this project will prove to be a game-changing improvement.
> Davis Ave Bridge – This bridge was once a well-loved connection from Brighton Heights to Riverview Park before it was torn down in 2009 for safety. Now it’s being reconstructed as a bike/ped bridge. Construction has been delayed due to supply chain issues, but should be complete in early spring.
> West End Trolley Trail – The West End Trolley Trail is a highly anticipated project that reimagines a vacated trolley line into a shared-use connection from Crafton Heights to West End and beyond.
> Sylvan Ave Trail – The Sylvan Avenue Trail project is an effort to rehabilitate Sylvan Avenue in Hazelwood in an effort to expand the City’s network of safe travel for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-motorists.
> Hazelwood to Carrie Furnace Trail – Friends of the Riverfront is working on a plan for the extension of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail from the Hazelwood Green development to the Carrie Furnace redevelopment site.
> Penn Ave “Right Sizing”– DOMI has proposed reducing the travel lanes on one-way Penn Ave in the Strip District (b/t 31st and 22nd Streets) from two lanes to one, adding a bike lane, and improving conditions for walkers. We love to see it! Please show your support in the “feedback” box towards the bottom of the project’s Engage Page.
> Forbes/Braddock Intersection Updates – DOMI has published a proposed redesign for the intersection at Forbes & Braddock Avenues, which will facilitate safer entry/exit of the protected bike lane on Forbes and remove the dangerous slip lane among other improvements. Construction is planned for this fall.
> William St Landslide Remediation – A series of landslides on William St in Mount Washington led to its closure. The City is now working to remediate those landslides, and we’ve heard it will be reopened for bike and pedestrian use only!
>Charles Anderson Bridge– The City recently hosted a public meeting about construction timelines, impacts, and detours. The bridge will be closed to bikes and pedestrians after October 28th, and the goal is to reopen it in Fall 2026.
> Swindell Bridge Upgrades – The City proposed wider sidewalks to accommodate cyclists and walkers as part of a plan to rehabilitate the bridge. Share your support in the comments!
> West End Bridge Upgrades – Riverlife is working on a plan to create accessible, safe, artful structures and paths that connect the historic West End Bridge to the surrounding communities and regional and national trail networks, improved destinations at the base of the bridge for parks, art and recreational opportunities, and improving the overall cross-bridge experience.
And then go enjoy these recently completed projects!
> Lawrenceville Safety Suite – The City recently completed a set of safety improvements around Penn Ave and Main St in Lawrenceville using some innovative materials that are new for Pittsburgh. Kudos to Better Streets Lawrenceville for moving this forward! (see picture above)
> Stanton Ave Bike Lanes are Here! – The new bike lanes and traffic calming measures have been installed along Stanton Ave, and they are AWESOME! Come celebrate the advocates who made this happen at our Annual Members Meeting on December 3rd!
> Penn Circle Conversion – It’s finally done! After over 8 years of work the one-way 4-lane “Penn Circle” has been converted into a two-way road, complete with concrete and parking protected bike lanes and better pedestrian infrastructure. Take a virtual tour with us, then go take a ride!
> Traffic Calming Projects – Several traffic calming projects have been completed this summer, making neighborhood streets safer for everyone: S Braddock, Greenfield Ave (including a bike lane!), Chartiers Playground Area, and more!
> Critical Sidewalk Gaps – DOMI has been working to close sidewalk gaps across the City. There’s a long way to go, but they’ve made some good progress this year.
> New Street Mural at Woods Run Library – Go check out the new street mural we helped created with local artists and the support of AARP’s Community Challenge Grant at the Woods Run Library! (see picture above)
> Herron & Melwood Ped Improvements– Advocates in Polish Hill have been advocating for safety improvements on Herron Ave near Melwood for years, and the City finally took action! Kudos to the Polish Hill Safety & Mobility Committee for your advocacy on this.
> Greenfield Ave Traffic Calming – Construction is complete on traffic calming improvements on Greenfield Ave from McCaslin St to Saline St including speed tables, raised crosswalks, and a new climbing bike lane! More traffic calming is needed on the lower portion, so the advocacy continues. Nearby Hazelwood Ave also got several new speed tables.
> Morewood Ave Bike Lanes – DOMI in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University repaved and restriped Morewood Ave between Fifth & Forbes to include approximately 400 feet of dedicated bike lanes!
> Broadway Ave Pedestrian Improvements – The Broadway Ave Corridor is currently receiving a series of pedestrian safety and accessibility improvements. There’s a lot to celebrate, but it would still be great to see an official bike lane along Broadway instead of the “phantom bike lane” that’s there now.
See more of the City of Pittsburgh’s latest projects on Engage PGH.
Archive Of Significant Completed Bike & Pedestrian Projects
Since 2002, we’ve been pushing for ways to reimagine our streets, tirelessly working to make it better and safer for Pittsburghers who bike, walk and roll, while helping bring our city over 100 miles of bike lanes, neighborways and other on-street network markings. Our advocacy has not only changed the physical landscape, but has also changed minds. We’ve come a long way from “Worst City in the US to ride a bike” to where we are now, and we can’t wait to see what the future will bring.
Here is an archive of bike and pedestrian infrastructure improvements we’ve had a hand in making happen.
2023 Projects
> So Many Bike Racks! – We just wrapped up a 2-year project with DOMI to install 500 bike racks across the city. That’s 1,000 new bike parking spaces!
> Trail to Mairdale Neighborway – Construction on the City’s newest neighborway is complete! The Trail to Mairdale connects the end of the Chateau Trail through the Northside to Riverview Park via McClure and Woods Avenues. Wayfinding signage is the last step, and will be going in soon.
> Bike Lane Extension on Smallman & 21st – We’ve been waiting for years on a short but critical portion of the Smallman St bike lane to be completed through the core of the Strip District and across 21st St, and now it’s here!
> Mon Wharf Connector – The Monongahela Wharf Connector Trail was updated this summer to create a more pleasant and safe ride to The Point via the GAP Trail.
> Downtown’s Penn Ave bike lane improvements – Our push to “harden” the Penn Ave bike lanes to prevent drivers from parking in them is coming to fruition! The new concrete “pills” have been installed to create a protected bike lane from Point State Park to 11th St, and vertical bollards are coming soon to prevent vehicles from entering the bike lanes.
> Safety Improvements at 5-points intersection – Short-term pedestrian safety improvements have been installed at the Five-Points intersection of Beechwood / Wilkins / Linden in Squirrel Hill including painted bumpouts and increased bike lane markings. Further, more permanent improvements are in the works.
> Protected bike lanes on Forbes Ave & Fern Hollow Bridge – The Fern Hollow Bridge is finally complete along with a protected bike lane from S Braddock Ave all the way to Beechwood Blvd!
> New path under the 40th St Bridge – There is now a “tunnel” that cyclists and pedestrians can use to get under the 40th St Bridge without navigating a dangerous intersection or crossing train tracks.
2020 – 2021 Bike Lanes
The Gap to the Point project is an ambitious series of protected bike lanes connecting the Great Allegheny Passage (Eliza Furnace Trail) to Point State Park via an on-street route, while providing safe bicycle connections to the largest job center in Western Pennsylvania. A major innovation of this project are the raised bike lanes that integrate with major bus stops.
Take Bigelow! Although only a block in length, this section of Bigelow is an important connection in Oakland’s bike network and helps connect Pitt’s campus for bikes and peds, while beautifying the area.
Brighton Rd is Pittsburgh’s latest protected bike lane, extending northward and becoming standard bike lanes. Brighton Rd is one of the longest continuous bike lanes in the City of Pittsburgh.
2017 Bike Lanes
In an attempt to bring calm to a wide and confusing street, the Negley Ave bike lanes provide a needed north-south connection between Highland Park, East Liberty and Shadyside, with some improvements to confusing intersections.
In one of the more high temperature bike lane struggles in the City, PennDOT (the owners of the street) agreed to include bike lanes on Forbes Ave connecting our two major universities and leaving everyone wonder why it took so long for this in the student-dense neighborhood. The project also features Pittsburgh’s first “bicycle signals” and bicycle radar detection.
While still not complete, the Allegheny Commons protected bike lanes added bicycle accommodations to an over-built, “urban renewal” era ring road in the Northside. Look for even more improvements (including Pittsburgh’s first protected intersections) on this ever-improving project.
2007 – 2014 Bike Lanes
The 2007 bike lanes on Liberty Ave in Bloomfield and Lawrenceville were our first successful push to carve out space on Pittsburgh’s streets for people riding bikes. At the time, the only other on-street bike lanes in the City were on Beechwood Blvd and the Highland Park and Riverview Park loops, painted roughly three decades prior.
The East Liberty Blvd bike lanes are the City’s first Complete Streets project led by our efforts and introduced the phrase “road diet” into Pittsburgh’s lexicon. Going from four car lanes to two, it added two bike lanes and two lanes of parking, while making the street safer for pedestrians to cross.
The West Ohio St bike lanes are a no brainer project that brought greater access to the park and to the historic Gus and Yiayia’s food cart.
The Penn Ave bike lanes, connecting Downtown’s Cultural District and the Strip District, are the City’s first “protected bike lanes,” ie bike lanes delineated with a physical barrier. While removing the outbound lane of traffic was controversial at the time, the bike lanes have proven to increase safety for all users of the roadway (especially pedestrians), decreased congestion at several intersections (namely the 16th St bridge), and have at times carried a full quarter of all of the morning commuters on Penn Ave.
Installed around the same time as the Penn Ave bike lanes, this is Pittsburgh’s first “Parking Protected” bike lane, providing safe access to Phipps Conservatory and Schenley Park, from Oakland.
And we’ve done so much more…
There is no doubt we’ve left a mark on this City. To see the complete list of things we’ve worked on, see our Wins Page & History Page.
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