N. Side traffic pattern to change
Long-awaited project to affect area around old Allegheny Center
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh officials are putting the final touches on plans to bring a little of East Liberty to the North Side: two-way traffic around the former Allegheny Center complex.
That is part of a three-phase project that includes plans to join East and West Ohio streets through the center of the complex, in front of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the New Hazlett Theater. The city is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to turn responsibility of the circle over to the city, which can treat the road as an urban street rather than as a highway.
The traffic pattern around the Allegheny Center complex is a slightly smaller version of the former Penn Circle in East Liberty, with up to four lanes traffic flowing one way counter-clockwise around the complex from Federal Street. Pat Hassett, deputy public works director, said Friday the city will change that to one lane of traffic in each direction, plus bike lanes and sidewalk improvements, beginning next spring. The same amount of parking will be maintained.
Mr. Hassett and project manager Emily Gaspich said changing Allegheny Center traffic has been under consideration for years, but a development spurt in East Liberty caused the city to change Penn Circle first, beginning in 2012. Now, with Faros Properties taking over the former 1.2-millionsquare-foot Allegheny Center Mall complex to develop a technology hub known as Nova Place, it’s time for the North Side project to move ahead.
“We’ve seen what [the new traffic pattern] did in East Liberty,” Mr. Hassett said. “It’s really had a positive impact there. The [North Side] community has been after us for years to do this. The opportunity before us today is to move ahead with Nova moving in there.”
The ultimate goal, Mr. Hassett said, is to make the area “more of an urban street pattern” that’s easier for pedestrians to use rather than the “four-lane expressway” there now.
Councilwoman Darlene Harris, whose district includes the former mall, said two-way traffic around the center “is something the neighborhood has wanted” since she took office in 2006. Faros couldn’t be reached for comment, but Ms. Harris said the developer asked what type of changes the neighborhood wanted when it
took over the complex, and two-way traffic was at the top of the list.
Mr. Hassett said the city is in the process of obtaining ownership of the road — known as North, South, East and West Commons — from the state. The first round of improvements will be made under a Highway Occupancy Permit with the state, he said, before the city takes over ownership.
During the next few weeks, the city will hold a public meeting to present the plans to residents and get feedback.
The first phase, expected to begin in the spring, will involve repaving the circle, painting a double yellow line between the opposing lanes of traffic, installing bicycle lanes and placing hoods over the five traffic lights.
During the first year, traffic lights at Sandusky and East Ohio streets will be replaced with stop signs. The city will study traffic flow at all of the intersections for a year to see how the streets work without lights, leaving the option to put them back in service if there are problems.
Design consultants haven’t decided for sure where the bike lanes will be.
The second phase, scheduled for 2018, will involve eliminating traffic lights that are no longer needed, installing sidewalk bumps near intersections to make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street and landscaping.
In 2019, the plan calls for extending East Ohio Street through the plaza in front of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the New Hazlett Theater to join with West Ohio Street. That would restore part of the street plan that existed before the center was built in the mid-1960s and better connect the complex with the East Ohio Street business district.
“It certainly will open that area up,” Mr. Hassett said. “With everything Nova has planned, [joining East and West Ohio] could increase the activity going in and out of that area. Right now, [the plaza] is a major impediment to that.”
The city will seek state or federal grants for the second and third phases. The total cost of the changes hasn’t been determined.