News

Summary of Meeting Feedback May 1st, 2024

14 June 2024

Over the last several months, the City has been engaging with Strip District constituents about traffic safety in the Strip District and development of the Penn Ave Rightsizing project.

Through one-on-one stakeholder meetings, corridor walks, and community meetings, we have collected hundreds of comments via EngagePGH, letters, written notecards, marked up maps, and more, hearing from residents, workers, business owners, commuters, and visitors. The thoughts, concerns, and feedback will inform the project as it moves into the next stage of design.

Below is some information about who was represented at the public meeting hosted on May 1st. The city is continuing to engage the diverse groups of stakeholders who have relationships with the Strip District to ensure all perspectives inform final designs.

Results of a poll asking attendees to share about their relationship with the Strip District.

Of 191 attendees who responded to this poll at the May 1st community meeting, a breakdown of their relationship to the Strip District is as follows:

  • 12% live in the Strip District.
  • 9% own a business in the Strip District.
  • 33% shop in the Strip District.
  • 26% commute through the Strip District.
  • 11% work in the Strip District.
  • 6% indicated they have another relationship to the Strip District, not listed.

Over the next few months, DOMI will continue engaging businesses and stakeholders in the Penn Avenue Rightsizing project’s footprint (22nd Street through 31st Street).

If you are a stakeholder in the project footprint and have questions or concerns about the project, please contact Infrastructure Engagement Specialist, Jan Raether at jan.raether@pittsburghpa.gov.

What We Heard

Through this engagement process the City collected hundreds of comments from residents, businesses, commuters, and visitors about their vision for a safer Penn Avenue in the Strip District.

Several commonalities and themes emerged during our review of all the input collected. Please see key takeaways below, and follow-up information associated with each.

Safety

  • Safety is important to everyone on the corridor – residents, businesses, and commuters agree that there are many tools that can and should be deployed to reduce speeding, crashes, and make the Strip safer for everyone who travels to and through it, whether in a car, a delivery truck, on a bike, or on our sidewalks.
  • DOMI will continue engagement with stakeholders in the project footprint throughout summer and fall 2024. Objective is to analyze potential block-by-block opportunities and challenges to inform the final designs for the Penn Avenue Rightsizing projects. If you are a stakeholder in the project footprint and have questions or concerns about the project please contact Infrastructure Engagement Specialist, Jan Raether, jan.raether@pittsburghpa.gov Final designs are anticipated in early 2025.\
  • Penn Avenue in the Strip was identified as a high-risk corridor in DOMI’s 2020 Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and identified as part of the high-injury network. The High Injury Network is defined as the streets which have the greatest frequency and concentration of fatal and injury crashes, prepared as part of the City’s Vision Zero commitment. Learn more about the city’s commitment to Vision Zero and the High Injury Network by visiting the Vision Zero EngagePGH page, linked here.

Relationship to ongoing transportation projects in the Strip District

    • There were questions about the possible overlap in construction with planned projects on Liberty Avenue, Penn Avenue and Smallman Street and how that might disrupt traffic.
    • There were questions about the overall transportation network capacity once all planned improvements are installed.
    • The Penn Ave Rightsizing project will be the first project installed in the suite of mobility improvements in the Strip District. The rightsizing project will be a quick build installation with non-permanent materials proposed to be installed in 2025. This is two years prior to the Penn Avenue Traffic Signal Improvement Project. DOMI will use the pre- and post- installation data from this quick-build project to refine design on the $5.5 million Penn Avenue Signals Improvement Project, ensuring that this significant investment in Penn Avenue will meet the needs of the Strip District today and into the future.
    • The schedule below shows that planned phasing of projects is intended to minimize disruption from construction.

    Crash Data

    • There is widespread interest across Strip District residents, businesses, and commuters in gaining a clearer understanding of the crash data available to the City of Pittsburgh.
    • DOMI will share relevant crash data and add 2023 crash data to the record when it is made available by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
    • Penn Avenue in the Strip was identified as a high-risk corridor in DOMI’s 2020 Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and identified as part of the high-injury network. The High Injury Network is defined as the streets which have the greatest frequency and concentration of fatal and injury crashes, prepared as part of the City’s Vision Zero commitment. Learn more about the city’s commitment to Vision Zero and the High Injury Network by visiting the Vision Zero EngagePGH page, linked here.
    • The heat map below shows the concentration of all reportable crashes on Penn and Smallman from 2017 to 2021 using the latest available PennDOT crash data. Penn Avenue has a disproportionally high number of injury crashes when compared to other streets in the Strip District as well as similar roads in other business districts that carry a greater volume of vehicles.

    Bicycle Network Connectivity

    • The Strip District is a highly traveled connector for those commuting between neighborhoods in the east to the Strip District and Downtown Pittsburgh, reaffirming what we learned from prior planning efforts including the Bike (+) Plan and Strip District Mobility Plan.
    • Many cyclists are calling for extending proposed bicycle connections to 34th and 16th Streets as well as an outbound connection on Smallman Street to complement facilities proposed on Penn Ave as part of the right sizing project.
    • DOMI has also added wayfinding signage and pavement markings for cyclists going eastbound on Penn Avenue, directing them to 14th Street between Penn Avenue and Smallman Street.
    • The Penn Avenue rightsizing project proposes an inbound parking-protected bike lane from 31st Street to 22nd Street and maintains existing “sharrows,” or shared travel lanes, from 22nd to 16th Streets.
    • The City is exploring expanding the outbound bike facility on Smallman Street from where it currently ends at 21st Street to 36th Street as part of a separate project (visit the project EngagePGH page linked here).
    • The City will need to conduct an additional phase of engagement with businesses and residents between 31st and 34th Streets before considering future phases for this project.

    Sidewalks

    • Sidewalks are a vital part of our transportation system for many, and there is broad interest in widening sidewalks throughout the Strip to enhance the pedestrian experience.
    • The current project scope and budget includes quick-build interventions only between 22nd and 31st Streets. DOMI will further explore sidewalk extensions as part of the Penn Avenue Signals Improvement Project and is pursuing funding for sidewalk gaps throughout the Strip District as part of adjacent projects.

    Curbside Management: Loading & Parking

    • The curbside has many competing demands for business loading/unloading, customer parking, curb cuts, and other uses. There is concern about how these needs will be balanced.
    • The rightsizing project will maintain the parking lane on both sides of Penn Avenue through the project extent.
    • Through the next stage of project development, DOMI will develop plans for the curb side designation (i.e. what portions of the curb are designated for loading, parking and other curbside uses). DOMI will engage stakeholders with storefronts in the project area to understand on-street and loading needs to accommodate these needs in the allocation of curb space.
    • If you are a stakeholder in the project footprint and have questions or concerns about the project please contact Infrastructure Engagement Specialist, Jan Raether, jan.raether@pittsburghpa.gov.

    Vehicle Traffic Capacity Concerns

    • Some businesses are concerned that the growth of the Strip District and reduction of travel lanes will lead to additional congestion that will deter visitors from going to the Strip District.
    • The Strip District Mobility Plan includes a travel demand model (see graphics below) forecasting land use to 2035 with little change in expected mode of transportation. Even in this scenario the network was shown to support needed vehicle trips without breaking down. This tells us that there is enough capacity for vehicle trips in the future.
    • DOMI is preparing an updated travel model which will reflect changes to traffic flow from the Penn Avenue Rightsizing project and Liberty Avenue Highway Safety Improvement Program (HISP) project.
    • The City is committed to continuing to engage and educate our neighbors on how DOMI uses state-informed guidelines and data to make recommendations for roadway design.

    Enforcement

    • Residents, businesses, and commuters share a desire for increased law enforcement of illegal parking, loading zone violations, speeding, and running of red lights.
    • The rightsizing project will include design elements such as quick-build painted bump-outs with flex posts to prevent cars from parking near and restricting sightlines at intersections.
      1. Daylighting (increasing visibility and sightlines at an intersection) is shown to decrease pedestrian crashes by 30%, according to the Federal Highway Administration. It also provides a shorter crossing distance for pedestrians and reduces blind spots for vehicles approaching the intersection as well.
    • Law enforcement collaboration is a key pillar of successfully implementing Vision Zero, and the Pittsburgh Police are a committed partner on the City’s cross-departmental Vision Zero task force. Pittsburgh Police Zone 2 are committed to illegal parking enforcement throughout the Strip as capacity and call volume allow. The City is also engaging in dialogue with the Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh (PPA) on how we can increase coordination and enforcement of illegal parking with safety as a top priority. Automated speed enforcement is not currently legal in Pennsylvania. The City is actively working with local and state legislative partners to explore adding new tools to our enforcement toolbox including: Automated red-light, speed, and parking enforcement.