Man shot on S. Side as new rules begin
With the end of the first weekend of a pilot program that changed traffic patterns on East Carson Street on the South Side, residents and visitors alike expressed concern about the effectiveness of the plan.
The program, announced Wednesday by Pittsburgh public safety officials, alters traffic so vehicles can only travel outbound on East Carson Street between 10th and 18th streets from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Inbound traffic is being routed onto residential Muriel Street, two blocks south of Carson.
The change came in an effort to control crowds and cut down on crime in the popular nightlife area. Police have investigated several shootings, including a fatal one, in the area since mid-July.
“If it helps with that, it’s great. But I don’t know how traffic is going to fix that,” said Julia Anderson of Greenfield, who works at the Buffalo Exchange retail store on East Carson. “I feel like there are better ways to fix these problems.”
Early Saturday, during the first night of the pilot program, a man was shot in the 2000 block of Wharton Street and was in critical condition at a hospital. Wharton Street is a couple of blocks south of East Carson.
That shooting confirmed some residents’ fears that the new traffic pattern won’t alleviate violence but instead might shift it into residential areas.
“The traffic was absolutely crazy on these back streets [over the weekend], and it didn’t do anything, just pushed the crime over here,” said a woman who identified herself only as Karen R. and said she has lived on the South Side her entire life.
As part of the new traffic patterns, vehicles are not allowed to use side streets between 11th and 17th streets unless the driver has a residential permit for that area. But some residents said they saw
drivers moving barriers so they could use the streets.
One neighbor called the plan a good idea “in principle, but not in practice.”
Some business people said they were worried that the new traffic pattern would affect their sales.
“It won’t stop any of the shootings, and it will hurt our business, because no GrubHub or UberEats drivers will be able to find parking,” said a man who identified himself as Johnathon C., a South Side resident and the shift manager of Carson Street Deli.
“It makes sense to use that [closed lane of Carson Street] for emergency vehicles, but as away to fix the violence, that’s notgoing to do it,” he said.
Port Authority buses and emergency vehicles are permitted to travel in both directions on East Carson Street during the restricted hours.
Public safety officials said the changes will be in effect for the foreseeable future.
In another effort to curb some of the nighttime problems on the South Side, state Rep. Jessica Benham, a Democrat who represents the area, has asked Gov. Tom Wolf to set up a meeting with the state Liquor Control Board and the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement to discuss options the city has in regard to liquor license concentration.