Final Plan is Now Available!

The final plan document is now available, and we extend our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed throughout the development process. Your input, insights, and collaboration have been invaluable in shaping this plan, and we truly appreciate the time and effort dedicated by all participants.

Together, we have created a plan that reflects our collective vision for the Brownsville road corridor and Carrick community's future.

Final Plan Document open in new window

Appendices

Please view the final proposed layout in the interactive map below

Project Background

Brownsville Road is a major thoroughfare located in the south hills of Pittsburgh. This corridor connects the city's neighborhoods of Carrick and Southside with the suburbs of Brentwood and Baldwin. The road is heavily traveled by vehicles, transits, and pedestrians. To ensure the safety of all individuals who travel along Brownsville Road, a comprehensive safety plan is necessary. This plan will take into account the various potential traffic safety hazards that exist on the road and outline strategies for mitigating these risks.

The project team is committed to conducting a detailed traffic study with a robust community vetting process on this plan.

Why Brownsville Road Needs a Safety Plan

Brownsville Road is a high-traffic corridor with a mix of residential, institutional, and commercial activities. The corridor is used many including pedestrians, transit users, bicyclists, and motorists. In recent years there have been an increasing number of crashes and pedestrian safety concerns on this corridor.

A community-vetted, formal corridor study will help the City better understand the traffic safety issues that everyday users are observing and how City can improve the mobility experience for everyone.

What to Expect From This Plan

The Planning Bureau of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) prepares neighborhood- and corridor-level mobility plans focusing on safety, accessibility, and equity. These plans will act as a blueprint for future transportation investments in the study area and will ensure the city is prioritizing projects already developed in close collaboration with the community.

This plan will:

  • Evaluate various pedestrian, bicycle and traffic safety issues, traffic operations, and mobility issues through a data-driven process.
  • Through a bottom-up community engagement process, help to prioritize various safety and mobility improvement projects that the community has identified for the coming years.
  • Will act as the implementation directory of the safety and mobility improvement projects for the priority corridors.

This plan will not:

  • Ensure funding or the city’s commitment towards immediate implementation of all the identified projects.
  • Provide ready-to-build designs for all the identified projects.
  • Identify transportation projects beyond the scope of the plan.

Key Data from the Study Area

Study Area Profile: Brownville Road, from Calhoun Avenue to Maytide Street. This corridor is 1.9 miles with an average road width of 40 feet. The Speed Limit is 25 MPH, but the 85th percentile speed is 34 to 36 miles per hour. 85% to 89% of motorists are driving over the speed limit. The max recorded speed limit has been 82 MPH. There are three 15MPH school zones in the corridor.
Study Area Profile: Commute Trends. Citywide, 10% of commuters do not use a vehicle. Across the three Carrick Census tracts, an average of 13.3% of commuters do not use a vehicle. Citywide, 9% of commuters use public transit. In the three Carrick Census Tracts, 14.3% of commuters use public transit. Citywide, 6% of commuters walk to walk. In the three Carrick Census tracks, 2.3% of commuters walk to work. When it comes to a single-occupancy motor trip, 23% of trips citywide are to get somewhere less than 2 miles away, and 35% of trips citywide are to get somewhere less than 3 miles away. In Carrick, 30% and 41% of single-occupancy car trips are to travel less than 2 and 3 miles.
Reverse Trend: Motor Traffic and Transit Users. From 2017 to 2024, the total number of drivers has been declining. Meanwhile, from 2021 to 2023, the number of transit riders has been increasing, surpassing ridership levels from 2019.
Crash Analysis from 2018 to 2022: 218 total crashes occurred with 57 resulting in injury. 44% of those crashes occurred at night with street lights. 10% of these crashes were with pedestrians, all resulting in injury. 2 of these crashes were bicycle related.