$19 million confirmed to link Hill, Downtown
Deck will be built over Crosstown Boulevard
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A $19 million grant will go toward reuniting the historic Hill District with Downtown, federal transportation officials confirmed Friday, sealing an earlier announcement from local officials.
The long-sought money, awarded through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, program, will help build a deck over Crosstown Boulevard. That’s part of a plan proposed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to re-create the street grid on the former Civic Arena site and tie the area into the Hill.
Hill residents lost their direct link to Downtown with redevelopment more than 50 years ago. Construction on the $26.4 million deck is set to begin next summer or fall and last about two years.
“It’s kind of hard to cross a highway when you don’t have a car. It’s kind of hard to walk across a highway or bike across,” Mayor Bill Peduto said in an afternoon news briefing hosted by the White House.
He said the decades-long isolation of the Hill — “the vital heart of the City of Pittsburgh” — has inhibited its residents’ access to economic opportunities.
State and local sources, including two foundations and the Penguins, are kicking in money to help pay for the deck. Plans show a park with a tree-lined promenade, gardens and benches atop the structure.
Mr. Peduto said the federal money granted to the Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority should encourage hundreds of millions of dollars in additional public and private investment in the area, including funds for affordable housing and Downtown development.
He credited U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., with helping the city to land the support, one of 40 TIGER grants nationwide announced Friday.
Local leaders failed three times in the past several years to win a TIGER grant for the Downtown-Hill redevelopment effort. The latest application focused on reconnecting the Hill with Downtown and more job opportunities, Mr. Peduto said.
On Tuesday, he joined Mr. Doyle, Mr. Casey and Allegheny County Executive Ritz Fitzgerald to announce the award.
Mr. Peduto said the timing of the deck work fits into a 10-year project schedule worked out with the Penguins.
The team’s chief operating officer, Travis Williams, said this week that the grant could be a spark for overall redevelopment of the 28-acre arena site, which has plans for offices, retail and 1,200 housing units.