Funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Grant Program, this planning study seeks to identify design alternatives to the 1-mile portion of SR-65 that divides the neighborhoods of Manchester and Chateau. This section, serving as the western border of Manchester and the walkable area around it, is important because of how it bisects the previously continuous urban fabric, and will be the primary focus for conceptualizing new design alternatives.

The study area for the existing conditions analysis and comprehensive evaluation will focus on the full, 3-mile expressway portion of SR-65 spanning from I-279N and the McKees Rocks Bridge. As the planning study focuses on ways to functionally reunite the two neighborhoods, it will also seek to identify a design alternative for the corridor that ensures the safety and connectivity for all SR-65 corridor users.

Built on a viaduct that stands as tall as 40 feet above the surrounding streets, SR-65 began construction in 1960 and has since then forever changed the landscape of Pittsburgh’s Manchester neighborhood.

With only two openings for east-west travel underneath, and a pair of parallel one-way streets that range from two to four lanes wide, SR-65 creates a consequential divide between the Manchester neighborhood and the portion west of the highway that is now known as Chateau.

When urban renewal threatened this area in the mid-twentieth century, the predominately Black community banded together to fight large-scale, modern development blocks. While some housing was saved, the neighborhood’s business districts and continuous street grid were lost to a combination of government demolition, riots, and the construction of SR-65 which creates the current landscape that exists today.

For more information on the correlation between highway development and the impacts on communities of color, read "Project 19/65" by Mobilify Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Manchester is poised for equitable transformation, and the State Route 65 Feasibility Study is the next step in that journey.

The project team will identify and analyze ways in which the neighborhoods could be reconnected, with the highway as the focal point. The team will work collaboratively with neighborhood stakeholders to identify new design elements for the corridor that reunites Manchester and Chateau in a way that addresses accessibility, safety, mobility, and economic needs.

Using the Manchester-Chateau Neighborhood Plan as our north-star, the goal of this planning study is to address the historic harms perpetrated by urban highway infrastructure. It is the directive of the project team to create a final design alternative that

• Provides equitable economic growth
• Prioritizes workforce development and sustainability efforts
• Promotes transit accessibility, among other neighborhood benefits

While this project will not contain any built infrastructure, it will inform the interventions that need to take place to connect Manchester and Chateau in a way that promotes multi-modal accessibility and safety for people of all ages and abilities.

The project will take place through September 2026, with many opportunities to provide input from residents in surrounding neighborhoods and throughout the city.