PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Wheelingman04]

I hope it looks classy for the greatest university skyscraper in the world!!

[Minivan Werner]

Originally Posted by PITairport

The idea of lighting up all the bridges was a pretty big topic about 20 years ago. I don't know what happened with that effort.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...+bridges&hl=en

It wouldn't need to be extravagant. Just outlining the bridges with bulbs such as Smithfield or NYC bridges would be great.

I like the green on the Birmingham Bridge. Its green arc matches the nearby green rolling hills quite nicely. Does every bridge need to be yellow? Maybe paint it brown to match the river .

There was a plan about 12 years ago to start painting some bridges in more extravagant colors (purple, red, green, etc.) I thought at the time it was pretty close to coming to fruition.

I guess it depends on the bridge and it depends on the color but it'd be great to see some paint choices other than yellow & that hideous light blue color that is everywhere and doesn't age well at all. Even just for giving directions and such. And lighting too. Each bridge could have it's own unique lighting that compliments its color & architecture.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

that hideous light blue color that is everywhere and doesn't age well at all.

I think that's the biggest thing... that the color doesn't age well. A fresh coat of paint, even if it is that bluish seafoam green color that so many of them are, does wonders.

I actually really like the Sewickley Bridge painted that color... the evening sun is beautiful on it as you drive beneath the trusses... maybe it's just the design of the bridge more than anything though.


Though that appears that it may be the morning sun

http://www.flickr.com/photos/underapine/7400868366/

[Steel City Scotty]

Speaking of that old bridge connecting Shadyside to East Liberty...

Bridge linking Shadyside, East Liberty to close for 6 months
February 27, 2013 12:17 am
By Jon Schmitz / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The South Highland Avenue Bridge in Shadyside will close for replacement Monday, detouring vehicles, buses and pedestrians for about six months.

The bridge was built in 1925, but its stone abutments and center pier date back to 1875, according to the Pittsburgh Public Works Department. It spans Ellsworth Avenue, the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway and Norfolk Southern Railway tracks.

The 117-foot-long bridge is a key link between Shadyside and East Liberty and, with its rust and graffiti, considered a bit of a civic eyesore. It is listed in a state bridge inventory as both "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...#ixzz2M7JImucU

[ShooFlyPie]

While we are on the topic of bridges, one project that is going to be a freaking construction logistical nightmare is the Greenfield Bridge Demo/Rebuild. Has there been any design renderings yet? Any construction news? All I see is local newspapers saying it is suppose to happen next year. I searched this forum and came up empty. It may have been talked about but I can't go through all 160 pages of this thread.

[Brentsters]

The City plans to keep and restore the entrance pylons and remaining parapets and urns alongside the abutments. Furthermore, the City is going to replicate the original parapets and urns across the new structure. To the people crossing the bridge on Beechwood Boulevard and Greenfield Road, the replacement bridge will look more historically accurate than the current structure (after its 1980 rehabilitation).

http://www.phlf.org/2013/02/01/beech...o-be-replaced/

[xchris125x]

^ ABOUT TIME!

I have found that bridge to be one of the biggest eyesores entering the city from the east.

[Steel City Scotty]

Originally Posted by CubicalRebel

While we are on the topic of bridges, one project that is going to be a freaking construction logistical nightmare is the Greenfield Bridge Demo/Rebuild. Has there been any design renderings yet? Any construction news? All I see is local newspapers saying it is suppose to happen next year. I searched this forum and came up empty. It may have been talked about but I can't go through all 160 pages of this thread.

This isn't exactly "new" information (it's a news article from October of 2011), but the video embedded on the page features a fair amount of details.

I love how KDKA dug deep into the archives to find a random soundbite from a woman whose car windshield got hit by falling debris back in the 80s.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/...nfield-bridge/

[joenicholas9]

MovePGH has an interactive map where you can offer input about local construction projects and which ones you feel are most important. http://www.planpgh.com/movepgh/projects

They're only accepting responses through tomorrow, but I thought it was interesting enough to share.

[George Woods]

^
I got a little carried away with that map the first time I saw it, clicking every dot. It's really neat. A lot of cool ideas came out of that process. Another round of meetings for DESIGNPGH (urban design) are happening in March.

On the subject of that map, as a Northsider, I think it's great that it gives an opportunity to object to the planned West Ohio Street bridge replacement. Two years ago, there was a public meeting that the city didn't really advertise, but the Allegheny Commons Initiative (a non-profit dedicated to the master-planning and restoring of the park) got the word out, since the plan calls for raising the bridge to accommodate double-decker trains. This would create a sort of hump where there is now nice, flat terrain, and would mean the removal of a couple dozen wonderful London Plane trees that line the street rather majestically. The residents who turned out were very outspokenly against it, and the guys from the city seemed ill-prepared for the opposition. But they clearly already had their minds made up. There's federal money (of course, with the railroad standing to benefit), so Ravenstahl says "go." The most ridiculous aspect of this plan is the fact that just up the street, the intersection of Brighton and North is basically an X-shaped bridge with the railroad tracks passing diagonally beneath it. It is impossible to raise it. The only way taller trains could get under it is to lower the tracks beneath it. Yet, they ignore this when planning to build the taller West Ohio Street bridge so that the taller trains could get under it, only to not be able to go any farther. Insanity. The railroad has billions of dollars. They should pay to dig down and lower the tracks, rather than destroy part of the oldest public park west of the Allegheny Mountains.

If you feel like objecting to it, it's project number B-020 (yellow dot at the intersection of Ridge and West Ohio).

[BrianTH]

Schenley sale approved:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3...#axzz2MC4hOJfm

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...school-677111/

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by George Woods

^
I got a little carried away with that map the first time I saw it, clicking every dot. It's really neat. A lot of cool ideas came out of that process. Another round of meetings for DESIGNPGH (urban design) are happening in March.

On the subject of that map, as a Northsider, I think it's great that it gives an opportunity to object to the planned West Ohio Street bridge replacement. Two years ago, there was a public meeting that the city didn't really advertise, but the Allegheny Commons Initiative (a non-profit dedicated to the master-planning and restoring of the park) got the word out, since the plan calls for raising the bridge to accommodate double-decker trains. This would create a sort of hump where there is now nice, flat terrain, and would mean the removal of a couple dozen wonderful London Plane trees that line the street rather majestically. The residents who turned out were very outspokenly against it, and the guys from the city seemed ill-prepared for the opposition. But they clearly already had their minds made up. There's federal money (of course, with the railroad standing to benefit), so Ravenstahl says "go." The most ridiculous aspect of this plan is the fact that just up the street, the intersection of Brighton and North is basically an X-shaped bridge with the railroad tracks passing diagonally beneath it. It is impossible to raise it. The only way taller trains could get under it is to lower the tracks beneath it. Yet, they ignore this when planning to build the taller West Ohio Street bridge so that the taller trains could get under it, only to not be able to go any farther. Insanity. The railroad has billions of dollars. They should pay to dig down and lower the tracks, rather than destroy part of the oldest public park west of the Allegheny Mountains.

If you feel like objecting to it, it's project number B-020 (yellow dot at the intersection of Ridge and West Ohio).

As a new NorthSider, thank you for elaborating on this. I vaguely remember reading a few details about this. It's a shame how the core of the North Side has been mutilated. The urban planning of historic Downtown Allegheny ringed by parks was a work of genius... and if left in tact... would have been one of the standout urban districts of today's Pittsburgh. We must be vocal about preserving what we still have.

[George Woods]

^
That's great, Evergrey, welcome to Allegheny City! Happy you're here. Amen on all counts.

I went through my initial depression over the idea of what was lost in Downtown Allegheny, but over time, I came to realize (through talking to old-timers) that the state of the neighborhood was actually really abysmal, hence the relatively little vociferous opposition on the part of the citizenry at the time. The market house's demolition was an outrage, and it was one of the things that led to the formation of PHLF, but many of the historic buildings were already gone, and many more were very derelict. Had it all been left alone, I suspect there'd be little left today anyway. The bright side is that the park was left largely intact (despite plans to route 279 THROUGH it!), and the biggest institutional buildings at its center were spared. I also really believe that, in the not-too-distant future, we will see the URA trying to undo some of what was done, a la East Liberty. The people who live on the Northside are in agreement that it needs to be done; I've heard that the son of the 90-something-year-old Allegheny Center owner is more amenable to working with the city to retrofit it; there's already lots of talk of putting Ohio Street back through the middle; and all the out-of-towners who move to the Northside because of its East Coast feel are making property values skyrocket and developers take notice.

[Private Dick]

So is this the end for Boy Mayor Luke?

Mayor Ravenstahl To Make Major Announcement About Future

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/...-about-future/

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by George Woods

I also really believe that, in the not-too-distant future, we will see the URA trying to undo some of what was done, a la East Liberty. The people who live on the Northside are in agreement that it needs to be done; I've heard that the son of the 90-something-year-old Allegheny Center owner is more amenable to working with the city to retrofit it; there's already lots of talk of putting Ohio Street back through the middle; and all the out-of-towners who move to the Northside because of its East Coast feel are making property values skyrocket and developers take notice.

That would be great, and I agree the time seems to be ripe with the North Side taking off to redo the center.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

So is this the end for Boy Mayor Luke?

Mayor Ravenstahl To Make Major Announcement About Future

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/...-about-future/

I hope so. He is, to put it mildly, a pretty useless mayor in the overall scheme of things...

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by glowrock

I hope so. He is, to put it mildly, a pretty useless mayor in the overall scheme of things...

Aaron (Glowrock)

He's been quite friendly to certain progressive urban development initiatives, though his actual contribution has been rather weak. And overall, it seems he's made too many political missteps, and downright stupid actions, to garner much respect from outside of the yinzer nation.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

He's been quite friendly to certain progressive urban development initiatives, though his actual contribution has been rather weak.

I personally think the fact that Ravenstahl has lent his support to a lot of pretty good ideas is underrated. No, he wasn't responsible for coming up with those ideas himself, but from a good governance perspective that doesn't really matter. In fact, there is a lot to be said for an office holder willing to take good ideas from whatever source is expedient.

Of course one could argue that means he should be easy to replace, which in theory is true. But in practice, as I think as our new County Executive is showing, politicians can have a lot of different agendas beside good governance, and so there is an inherent risk to trying out someone new.

I also get the idea that his often poor relations with other important elected officials has been an impediment to getting various things done. But again, is it really likely that anyone else is going to do much better? The City and the County are filled with competing factions and lots of folks with ambitions for higher office, and I don't really see anyone being able to establish consistent harmony.

[BrianTH]

By the way, I would think Ravenstahl pulling out would make it a near lock for Jack Wagner to run (in the primary or as an independent), and he might well have a real shot at winning.

[Jonboy1983]

Retrofit Allegheny Center? That would be a colossal waste of time. I say take a wrecking ball to that 1960s monstrosity and start over. I'm all for dropping the railroad tracks even further below grade as well.

Would anyone favor moving Pittsburgh's primary intercity train station to a completely new structure between Federal and Sandusky Streets? Envision a state-of-the-art glass and steel structure essentially built around the existing NS tracks. I posted a pic of this vision a while back in this thread...

The existing train station is an embarassment. I know ridership isn't exactly all that great, but I do think that it is due to the fact that there are only 4 daily trains serving the city and that none of them arrive/depart at a reasonable time of day. Granted it must work for Cincinnati and Amtrak's Cardinal service, but that is apparently not working for Pittsburgh's Pennsylvanian or Capitol Limited trains.

There was an article recently involving a possible consolidation of 10 public transit agencies into one entity. Anyone think there would be a higher possibility of regional rail service with a "SWEPTA?"

Also, I would like to see Bill Peduto as the mayor of Pittsburgh. I really like his ideas. Well, his idea for a heavy rail line from Hazelwood to Lawrenceville is a little off the chart, but in general I do like his ideas...