Construction to begin this spring on bike, pedestrian ramp to Mon Wharf

After more than five years and numerous design changes, Riverlife said Tuesday it has received the final pot of money needed to begin building a bike and pedestrian ramp from the Smithfield Street Bridge to the Monongahela Wharf.

The project was approved for a $492,616 grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority through the Multimodal Transportation Fund. Riverlife president and CEO Vivian Li said the agency would have had a champagne toast if it had any bubbly in its Downtown office Tuesday. Riverlife was formed in 1999 to shepherd riverfront development

“This was a long time coming. This is the key piece we have been waiting for, and we got all the money we asked for,” Ms. Li said. “We thought everything looked good, but you never know because in the past [that fund] has run out of money.”

The additional grant, combined with previous grants and fundraising, will cover the low bid received this week for construction, $3.12 million, as well as additional costs, Ms. Li said. She expects Pittsburgh officials, who will oversee the project, to give the contractor notice to proceed this spring.

This is the third time the agency has sought project bids; the first two rounds came back too expensive and the project had to be redesigned. Ms. Li described it as a “complicated” site because of its location in a flood plain near an interstate highway, a historic bridge and an Allegheny County Sanitary Authority trunk line.

The project involves installing a 12-foot-wide ramp that will begin on the upstream side of the bridge, drop to the east for about 225 feet and make one turn before extending another 450 feet to the wharf.

Changes to the 2,017-foot trail along the wharf will include planting redbud and sycamore trees, installing a kayak landing and storage facility and placing a column of riprap along the river’s edge.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has been waiting to begin a $1.8 million Point Connect companion project to join the wharf trail with Point State Park so the area doesn’t have to be disrupted twice.