PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Private D]

Some serious street work needs to be done in the core of East Liberty -- the condition of the street surface is really, really bad. Not only is it terrible for drivers, it is not fitting for (and does not leave a very good impression about) one of Pittsburgh's hot development zones.

The City needs to step up and address this, like now. Or, you're going to end up with hotels, etc. opening up to completely torn apart streets, heavy construction equipment everywhere, closed streets, and long delays. And that's not a good thing.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Some serious street work needs to be done in the core of East Liberty -- the condition of the street surface is really, really bad. Not only is it terrible for drivers, it is not fitting for (and does not leave a very good impression about) one of Pittsburgh's hot development zones.

As I recall, they have a street plan which is actually coordinated with at least some of the development plan. They are doing a bunch of stuff in phases--converting some streets back to two-ways, closing some streets while adding others, changing intersections, new signals and markings, and so on.

And I believe some resurfacing has already been a part of that process, but other streets may be waiting until the streets are reconfigured.

[BrianTH]

A consortium of foundations, led by The Pittsburgh Foundation, is among the bidders for the August Wilson Center. The bid deadline was March 31, and so far information has been scarce, so it is possible (maybe likely) there are other bidders as well:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...ugust-Wilson-Center/stories/201404080085

[Private D]

^ Yeah, there are definitely plans for reconfiguration of some of the side streets, but I'm generally just talking about main routes. Highland and Penn are like — Kandahar... and not just because of new winter potholes. Gotta get the main infrastructure up to snuff or reinvestment/development is going go a lot slower than it should.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

^ Yeah, there are definitely plans for reconfiguration of some of the side streets, but I'm generally just talking about main routes. Highland and Penn . . .

I'm pretty sure at least large portions of Highland and Penn are scheduled for a makeover as part of the East Liberty Transit Center/Eastside III project.

Edit: I believe there are also more recent documents and discussions, but this December 2012 document gives you at least some idea about what has been under discussion in recent years:

http://www.eastliberty.org/sites/default...0and%20Mobility%20Vision%20-%20Final.pdf

They are really working toward a complete overhaul of the East Liberty street grid on a "complete streets" model.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

The City needs to step up and address this, like now. Or, you're going to end up with hotels, etc. opening up to completely torn apart streets, heavy construction equipment everywhere, closed streets, and long delays. And that's not a good thing.

Agreed. I'm not sure what they're waiting for. The roads are easily the worst in the city and the deterioration is accelerating quickly. I don't understand how they can let them fall apart so much, and for so long!

[eschaton]

Personally, while I'm thrilled at the amount of work in East Liberty, I wish at least 1/10th of the effort would be made fixing the street pattern in Allegheny Center. That area is still a travesty.

[Private D]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Agreed. I'm not sure what they're waiting for. The roads are easily the worst in the city and the deterioration is accelerating quickly. I don't understand how they can let them fall apart so much, and for so long!

This is all I'm referring to... the neglect to the major intersection at Penn and Highland and the few block stretches of each street in all directions... these sections are not in any reconfiguration plans. The neighborhood's main intersection at Penn and Highland is quickly on its way to becoming impassable. That's unacceptable, particularly in the city's most focused redevelopment zone with numerous projects underway... this from a standpoint of attracting more investment and from the major interference basic streets improvement will cause with construction schedules and openings.

[photoLith]

Consortium of foundations bids to buy August Wilson Center

The August Wilson Center for African American Culture may have found a savior.

A consortium of local foundations has stepped forward with a bid to buy the beleaguered Downtown property with the goal of preserving its mission as a center of African-American arts programming.

Led by the Pittsburgh Foundation, the local group submitted a joint bid last week to conservator Judith Fitzgerald, the former bankruptcy judge charged with selling the building to pay off a $7 million delinquent mortgage and other debts.

"The Pittsburgh Foundation is among a small group of local foundations that is developing a joint initiative in efforts to preserve the August Wilson Center and to safeguard its purpose as the pre-eminent community resource for African-American arts programming," John Ellis, a Pittsburgh Foundation spokesman, said in a statement.

In addition to the purchase bid, the foundations are separately "examining ways to maintain funding support for local African-American arts programming," according to the statement.

"The foundation consortium's primary objective is to explore opportunities to save the August Wilson Center in hope that it may reopen and remain operating for the long term fulfilling its essential role as a community hub for African-American arts and culture."

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...ugust-Wilson-Center/stories/201404080085

[Found5dollar]

There was a small landslide on Mount Washignton today. No injuries but has blocked the RR tracks and Le Mont is closed untill building inspectors can take a look at it. The Incline was closed for a few hours too.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140408/NEWS04/140409528#.U0S2l1cvmdw

EDIT
lots more info here:
http://www.wtae.com/news/mount-washingto...quesne-incline-railroad-traffic/25373026

[BrianTH]

The URA is requesting $1.7M from PennDOT to help pay for a "complete street" and trail along the river in the ALMONO site:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...-7m-largely-for-bike-infrastructure.html

The URA’s Directors report that accompanies the agenda adds that the ownership group “anticipates constructing the site’s ‘Signature Boulevard,’ a 1.5-mile complete street that accommodates vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic along the riverfront of the site. Specifically, within the public right of way of Signature Boulevard, a bicycle-only cycle track and dual ADA-compliant sidewalks will run the length of the roadway. Additionally, a riverfront trail will complement the roadway – connecting pedestrians to the river’s edge and taking users along a riverside that includes various ‘place-making’ stormwater management features for the property, and adjacent to the property’s former pump house before linking back into the existing site’s development grid of sidewalks and on-street bicycle lanes.”

Just a SLIGHT improvement over how the riverfront was handled in the PTC.

[Found5dollar]

whole page on the city planning website about the renaming of streets in east liberty.

http://pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/penncircle

[photoLith]

I jsut drove around East Liberty today and most of the roads are freaking disasters. You have to go about 5 mph on a lot of them to avoid gigantic potholes that are everywhere. Quite frankly its embarrassing the city let the roads get that bad. Its like a third world country.

[GeneW]

It's all about money. Roads degrade, on average, at a certain rate and in order to maintain the roads at a stable state, you have to pave a certain number of miles of roadway each year but we haven't had enough money to pave that number of miles for at least a decade.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by GeneW

It's all about money. Roads degrade, on average, at a certain rate and in order to maintain the roads at a stable state, you have to pave a certain number of miles of roadway each year but we haven't had enough money to pave that number of miles for at least a decade.

You would think that some of these roads would be higher priority on the list, however, with all of the redevelopment coming in and for how much traffic they get.

[Wiz Khalifa]

Originally Posted by Found5dollar

There was a small landslide on Mount Washignton today. No injuries but has blocked the RR tracks and Le Mont is closed untill building inspectors can take a look at it. The Incline was closed for a few hours too.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140408/NEWS04/140409528#.U0S2l1cvmdw

EDIT
lots more info here:
http://www.wtae.com/news/mount-washingto...quesne-incline-railroad-traffic/25373026

Small Landslide?! I Drive by this on Carson every day and it looks like the Grand Canyon opened up beneath the Lemont.

[photoLith]

^
Wow thats not good that could take out the incline which would be incredibly tragic.

[doo dah]

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...District-arena-site/stories/201404100280

"The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority board is taking the first steps to connect Downtown to the former Civic Arena site and the Hill District with a cap over part of Interstate 579."

[Private D]

Grant would help connect Downtown with Hill District, arena site

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...-site/stories/201404100280#ixzz2yVYiBAKS



The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority board is taking the first steps to connect Downtown to the former Civic Arena site and the Hill District with a cap over part of Interstate 579.

Board members approved an agreement today to accept a $918,684 federal grant to help fund the preliminary design for the proposed cap, which in essence would be a bridge over the part of I-579 known as Crosstown Boulevard.

The $1.1 million preliminary design work is expected to start in late spring or this summer and take about nine months.

It will look at the best method for the cap, the engineering involved and the cost.

Estimates put the cost of the structure at $27 million, money neither the SEA, the city nor the county has at this point.

That's in addition to another $30 million needed for the infrastructure work related to the former arena site, the target of a proposed office, residential and commercial development.

It appears to be a daunting task.

"We're taking it a step at a time," SEA Executive Director Mary Conturo said. "Once we have a better plan as to design and cost, that gives us more information to go and find the funding."

State Sen. Wayne Fontana said there appears to be high interest from the federal congressional delegation and Gov. Tom Corbett related to the 28-acre arena project. That may be helpful in securing funding, he said.

"The 28 acres is a priority. I think there's reason to be optimistic," he said.

The SEA board today also approved the hiring of consultants to assist with an application for a federal TIGER grant to help fund the arena-site infrastructure. The SEA is seeking about $17 million. It lost out in the last round of TIGER funding. The application is due April 20.

[BrianTH]

I've seen a lot of scoffing about the proposed deck-park in various places, but it has plenty of precedents in other cities (including a much bigger project in Dallas) and even in Pittsburgh (the Tunnel Park in the South Side is a variation on this theme). It is not currently funded for construction, but I think with a good plan it could attract a mix of funding from local governments, the state and feds, foundations, corporate sponsors, and so forth (that is how it got done in Dallas, incidentally).