Wightman Street, in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, is a primarily residential street near business districts on Forbes and Murray Ave as well as Schenley Park and multiple schools. It is represented on the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure’s (DOMI) High Injury Network, identifying it as a dangerous road, particularly for vulnerable road users. Additionally, with the Charles Anderson Bridge currently closed for rehabilitation, Wightman St is seeing increased traffic volumes. In response to this crash history, DOMI will implement safety improvements at two intersections along Wightman St at Darlington Rd and Beacon St, in summer 2025.

Wightman St. at Darlington Rd:

At this intersection with minor-street stop-control on Darlington, DOMI will install a quick-build pedestrian refuge island with bump-outs. This will improve sightlines, shorten crossing distances across Wightman, and slow vehicles through the intersection. This intervention will closely mimic the nearby intersection on Wightman at Bartlett St, but DOMI is exploring more robust materials that will be easier to maintain and more effective.

The original project on Wightman at Bartlett with only flex posts (installed 2020) is seen here:

Wightman St. at Beacon St:

This signalized intersection will receive quick-build bump outs, and changes to the intersection alignment and turn lanes. These changes will increase safety at the intersection by improving sightlines, slowing turning movements, discouraging illegal right turns on red, and protecting the existing bike lanes at the intersection where cyclists are most vulnerable to crashes.

Additionally, DOMI will extend the Southbound bike lane on Wightman St, which currently ends at Beacon, 250’ South. This uphill “climbing lane” will create safer conditions by removing the need for Southbound cyclists to merge into the intersection, and will improve comfort for all road users by separating cyclists from other traffic on this gentle climb. This will improve the Bike+ Network, which relies on this block of Wightman to connect existing bike lanes on Beacon and Wightman to the existing Pocusset St. shared-use path in Schenley Park. Only four legal parking spaces on Wightman’s East curb will be removed to accommodate this safety improvement.