PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Whatever happened to the plan I thought I remember reading about that said a hotel or something would be built on top of the pos?

Yep, that is what I called the "developer plan". The high bidder is a developer who wants to build a hotel while leasing back space to the cultural program. Apparently that plan will involve significant changes to the non-sail portion, which in fact we had speculated about here before.

[BrianTH]

PAT has set up a new site to conduct surveys and solicit ideas:

http://paac.mindmixer.com/

You can also view and rate ideas posted by others. It will probably not come as a surprise that I have posted a suggestion to study aerial gondolas--if you think it is an idea worth exploring, I'd suggest rating that idea positively, as doing so might help maximize the attention it gets from responsible officials.

[Found5dollar]

^ Ive added 2, add the busways to the T map, and send East Busway buses through the T tunnel.

[BrianTH]

Peduto is still looking to get the scaffolding from the Washington Monument repair. Sounds like it might come down to a money issue, but the designer seems to think it is a viable idea:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6101210-74/scaffolding-monument-washington#axzz31aetVAtr

Edit: By the way, some idea of scale--the Washington Monument itself is 555 feet 5 1⁄8 inches, and it looks to me like the scaffolding peaked around 15-20 feet higher (give or take), so call it about 570-575 feet. That's just a few feet short of the Gulf Tower (582 feet).

There is not another structure remotely as tall on the North Shore. For example, I believe the top of the West End Bridge arch is around 240 feet over the river, give or take. In fact placed near the river bank, the top would probably be at an altitude of around 1300 feet, which is around 100 feet taller than Mt. Washington.

[SkyPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

There is not another structure remotely as tall on the North Shore. For example, I believe the top of the West End Bridge arch is around 200 feet, give or take.

That might push the developers to make some taller buildings. (Continental, that means you)

[BrianTH]

Some cool details of the structure:

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/local/covering-the-washington-monument/155/

[Found5dollar]

Originally Posted by SkyPittsburgh

That might push the developers to make some taller buildings. (Continental, that means you)

..or cause all buildings to be kept short on the northshore to keep the view of the monument from all angles unobstructed, like it is in DC.

[Evergrey]

Who's pumped for the long-awaited construction of the Turnpike Commission's Southern Beltway? Yeehaw!

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6088290-74/beltway-southern-million#axzz31Y5HDz4O

$550 million Southern Beltway project launches for Pennsylvania Turnpike










By Tom Fontaine

Published: Monday, May 12, 2014, 3:36 p.m.
Updated 16 hours ago

When the second leg of the Southern Beltway opens in five years, the Pennsylvania Turnpike will have spent $788 million to build 19 miles of highway that it anticipates just 7,500 motorists will use daily.

Turnpike officials and government leaders from both parties, including Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, consider it a wise investment. They insist the 13-mile second section connecting Interstate 79 and Route 22 in Washington County will help spur economic development and ease congestion across the region.

“This is a project we've all been anxious to see happen,” state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, said on Monday at a ceremony marking the start of the $550 million project.

But Jake Haulk, president of the Castle Shannon-based Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, called the traffic forecast “peanuts.” He thinks the money for the segment would be better spent trying to eliminate bottlenecks on the Parkway East and Parkway West through measures such as road widening or building toll lanes for express traffic.

Up to 85,000 vehicles a day use the Parkway West, and up to 73,000 use the Parkway East daily, according to PennDOT data.

The Southern Beltway will let motorists from I-79 near the Allegheny County line with Washington County get to Pittsburgh International Airport without using the often congested Parkway West. It will extend the first Southern Beltway leg, which opened in 2006. Known as the Findlay Connector, the six-mile, $238 million section extends from I-376 near the Findlay airport to Route 22.

Turnpike data show the Findlay Connector is used by about 3,750 vehicles a day, a fraction of the 12,000 average daily vehicles that traffic studies predicted. The agency predicts the opening of the Southern Beltway's second leg will immediately double that traffic.

“I would have thought the real traffic problems were on the Parkways, not from people trying to get between Washington County and Pittsburgh International Airport,” Haulk said.

Although the Southern Beltway project was conceived in the 1980s, Corbett says it has taken on added importance in recent years with growth in Washington County and the emergence of the natural gas industry.


...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Who's pumped for the long-awaited construction of the Turnpike Commission's Southern Beltway? Yeehaw!

$550 million for 3750 additional users.

At a very conservative 4% a year, that is $22 million annually, which is about $5867 per additional user annually.

Not a very wise investment.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Found5dollar

..or cause all buildings to be kept short on the northshore to keep the view of the monument from all angles unobstructed, like it is in DC.

I would be OK if every new building on the North Shore from now on was between 400 and 550 feet.

[Minivan Werner]

Another redundant highway. Why not get rid of the substandard I70 between New Stanton and Washington PA and have it merge onto the southern beltway. That might allow some federal funding to be involved.

[BrianTH]

Peduto is looking to get financing for the Washington Monument project by using it as a cell tower:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6108308-74/peduto-company-pittsburgh#axzz31gyAqJa1

He also has a lot of other volunteers lined up:

A trucking company has volunteered to ship the 37 miles of aluminum tubing to Pittsburgh. A local ironworkers union has volunteered to erect it and an engineering and lighting firm has offered to do the engineering and site location work for free, Peduto said.

I'm beginning to think this may be a serious possibility.

[BrianTH]

Interesting focus in this article on Village Green's proposed apartment and parking complex in the SSW. Aside from a tax abatement, the garage is privately financed:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...ks-apartment-complex-would.html?page=all

Notably, this is what Continental is claiming can't be done on the North Shore.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Peduto is looking to get financing for the Washington Monument project by using it as a cell tower:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6108308-74/peduto-company-pittsburgh#axzz31gyAqJa1

He also has a lot of other volunteers lined up:



I'm beginning to think this may be a serious possibility.

I like Peduto a lot... but I find this to be an incredibly dorky idea. He also loses me with his opposition to the high bidder for the failed August Wilson Center.

Also... it would be nice to hear him speak up in opposition to the Southern Beltway... and its negative effects and opportunity costs.

[themaguffin]

I've haven't followed this monument story much.

Is the idea to replicate the scaffolding of the monument just like it was wrapped around the actual monument?

[CF Lion]

Regarding the WM scaffolding relocation, wondering how the structure would be modified being there is no monument acting as a brace:

Tying in
Engineers used corner and center braces placed every 26 vertical feet. The braces, together with a steel cable, help “cinch” the scaffolding in place around the monument. Brace pads are made of wood, one side of which is coated with a type of plastic foam that will not mar the stone. The pressure exerted
on the monument face by each pad is
100 pounds per square inch.

[themaguffin]

Also... it would be nice to hear him speak up in opposition to the Southern Beltway... and its negative effects and opportunity costs.

I don't think he has much to gain by speaking out.

[Steel City Scotty]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I like Peduto a lot... but I find this to be an incredibly dorky idea. He also loses me with his opposition to the high bidder for the failed August Wilson Center.

Also... it would be nice to hear him speak up in opposition to the Southern Beltway... and its negative effects and opportunity costs.

I was just about to ask for a general consensus on this board as to how many people support this Washington Monument scaffolding idea compared to how many think it's ridiculous.

I'll admit that it would certainly create a buzz around Pittsburgh and would be a major attraction in the city for years to come...but there's part of me that wonders if this is another one of those things that sounds cool when you first hear about it but is more like a logistical nightmare once you start thinking more in-depth.

That's also how I feel about previously discussed possibilities, such as building a zipline across the river from Mount Washington to North Shore...or hosting the Winter Olympics in Pittsburgh...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

Is the idea to replicate the scaffolding of the monument just like it was wrapped around the actual monument?

Yep. The scaffolding (in its two appearances) was very popular and well-received. It was particularly attractive at night due to the way it lit up (I understand the lights would be part of the package):



To get the same effect, and perhaps for structural integrity as well, you would likely need some sort of analog of the actual Monument to be installed inside the scaffolding. I'm thinking something like a milky plexiglass structure, or maybe structural fabric (ala the Denver airport).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by CF Lion

Regarding the WM scaffolding relocation, wondering how the structure would be modified being there is no monument acting as a brace

Obviously that is a question for a competent engineer, but I am gathering the scaffolding largely supported its own weight, but the braces helped keep the scaffolding in place. So I am thinking you may just be able to incorporate some internal crossbracing, and/or guy wires (as they often use with other tall steel towers, like radio/tv antennas).