Riverlife pushing for improvements to trail
Graffiti tells part of the story of a segment of riverfront trail in Downtown, but inspiration could be drawn from one message in particular: “Quality of life is quality of mind.”
Riverlife recently launched a “lunchtime loop” campaign to get the public to walk that Downtown stretch — between the Clemente Bridge and the Point — and start thinking about how to improve its quality and, thus, the quality of the trail experience.
Approaching the Point, the trail suddenly becomes the shadowy underbelly of the Fort Duquesne Bridge ramp — concrete piers and paint-scribbled thoughts on a retaining wall.
“This piece is accessible and it’s used, but it’s underloved,” said Stephan Bontrager, spokesman for Riverlife, the nonprofit that formed 16 years ago to bring attention to Pittsburgh’s rivers. “We want to raise the profile of that space.”
This summer, Riverlife hopes to initiate a process to bring a public art project to that stretch and to include the public, design professionals, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, community groups and the city in its planning.
The loop campaign began on Earth Day as a 30-minute respite, starting in Market Square, heading on Sixth Street to the steps on the Downtown side of the Clemente Bridge and following the trail to the Point State Park fountain before returning to Market Square.
There’s not much you can do about the ramp and its underpinnings or about the shadowy niches they create, which once provided a haven for homeless people. “But think of the wall as a blank canvas” without the graffiti, Mr. Bontrager said.
The targeted piece of trail is owned in different parts by the city and state Department of Transportation.
Wednesday’s loop walkers included the city’s planning director and a Riverlife board member, Ray Gastil, and Karen Hacker, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.
Mr. Gastil said the riverfront trail “is supposed to be a special walk, and that part [under the bridge ramp] doesn’t feel finished. It’s a little uncomfortable.”
He said a work of art, even if temporary, and programming around it is likely to result in a temporary fix: “When you put attention on something, it makes people ask for more.”
The health department last year opened an umbrella project, Live Well Allegheny, to promote and help support health and nutrition programs in schools, institutions, community groups and municipalities.
The collaboration’s focus is to prevent obesity and address behaviors that can lead to obesity, heart disease and cancer, she said.
“We have a lot of partners, and Riverlife is one,” she said. “There are so many opportunities to get folks up and moving, and we applaud all those efforts.”
When the portion of riverfront trail was completed alongside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in 2011, it was possible to walk from the Strip District to the Point without encountering cars.
“I don’t have data on this, but I know the pedestrian traffic skyrocketed,” Mr. Bontrager said. “We’re hoping to capitalize on that energy.”
He said many people ask “what the next duck moment will be” on the riverfront, referring to the Rubber Duck Project that brought Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s 40-foottall, 30-foot-wide bath toy up the Ohio River to a throng of revelers in September 2013 before it docked along the Allegheny near the Point. It was possibly the most globally integrated this city has ever been in one place.
“It was an emotional experience to see so much diversity,” Mr. Bontrager said. “It is our dream is to have that sort of atmosphere on the rivers all the time.”