Boulevard flooding, let’s tackle the cause
In long-running
We read with interest the article about the dismal performance of the Washington Boulevard floodgates (June 7, “Faulty Floodgates”). We are fortunate to have dodged another bullet because no one was hurt in the June 5 storm when the gates failed again. Since the tragedy of 2011, it’s common knowledge that Washington Boulevard is a hazard when it rains. What is not well known is that this has been an issue since the Negley Run sewers were constructed in the early 1900s, with tragic deaths and scores of police road closures and rescues through the decades.
Councilwoman Deb Gross nailed it when she said, “The real solution is to mitigate the stormwater.” Mechanical devices like the gates will always be at risk of failure. The surest solution is to better manage runoff throughout the watershed. A 1954 PostGazette article said, “The proposal and introduction of corrective measures is an annual event at City Hall.” After a particularly heavy rainfall, council convened to debate allocation of $785,000 for a project to raise the roadway and install an additional 48-inch sewer extending 1,500 feet to the Allegheny River. However, before it could be approved, the “Department of Public Works came up with a $21,000 idea for a substitute. It proposed a system of three flashing lights, to be automatically touched off by floats with the rise of water, as a means to warning motorists,” the article said. Does this sound familiar?
It’s time to tackle the cause, not just pass the problem, for future generations. Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority’s Negley Run watershed project has the potential to finally address this deficiency by better managing rainwater within neighborhoods using green infrastructure practices and discharging to a restored Negley Run stream that connects with the Allegheny River. In addition, the project will also bring desirable amenities like trees and parks to neighborhoods like East Liberty, Homewood, Larimer and Lincoln-Lemington at the top of the watershed.
We are co-convenors of the Negley Run Watershed Task Force, a coalition of neighborhood and regional organizations working to facilitate the construction of the Negley Run project and make sure that it brings maximum community benefits to the neighborhoods in the watershed. We call on PWSA to continue the good work it is doing on the Negley Run project, and we call on our elected leaders to do whatever they can to expedite its construction. Furthermore, we call on Alcosan to commit to large investments in Negley Run and the other watershed-wide PWSA green projects across the city. IAN LIPSKY
Swissvale JOHN STEPHEN
Aspinwall