Residents and commuters filled the room at OPDC’s town hall on April 5 to hear from the City of Pittsburgh and Healthy Ride on Oakland transportation updates.
Healthy Ride, Pittsburgh’s bike share system, shared plans for a 125-station expansion and asked for community input on the 23 new stations they are planning for Oakland. Attendees voiced concerns about potential loss of parking spots, improving safety for cyclists, and adding more stations near Oakcliffe in South Oakland.
“I love Healthy Ride and I’d love to see better connections to the Great Allegheny Passage by the Waterfront,” said Michelle Gorman, an Oakland Square resident.
David White, the Healthy Ride Executive Director, responded to this and other suggestions for more locations. “There are many parts of the city we would love to cover,” he said. “We had to make some hard decisions but hope to keep expanding the network in coming years.”
As part of the expansion, Healthy Ride will roll out a new design. According to White, the new stations will take up less space than the existing stations, and boast more lightweight signage. The smaller design enables them to place more stations in each neighborhood.
Check out the meeting minutes to get a full list of all the new station locations coming to Oakland. Visit Healthy Ride’s website to voice input.
The City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) updated attendees on projects including
- Potential redesign of Bigelow Boulevard between Fifth and Forbes Avenue,
- Bus Rapid Transit,
- the city's commitment to repairing its public steps,
- the Mon-Oakland Mobility Project and potential new connections between Oakland, Hazelwood, and Greenfield through Four Mile Run, and
- reconstruction plans for the Charles Anderson Bridge.
Justin Miller, Principal Transportation Planner from DOMI, spoke in depth about the city’s plans to improve the Charles Anderson Bridge, which connects the Boulevard of the Allies to Schenley Park/Panther Hollow Road. According to Miller, the city is working with Michael Baker International to determine if a repair or full replacement is necessary. He also noted that, due to the bridge’s historic designation, in depth review process is required. The city will continue to take input from community members on project priorities; they have not yet identified a project start date.
Read the full meeting minutes and view the both the DOMI and Healthy Ride presentation slides:
For more information about any of these projects, contact OPDC at 412.621.7863 ext. 17 or aboykowycz@opdc.org.