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John Redick's original 1784 plan for Allegheny City was stunning in its simplicity and clarity: a new town north of the Allegheny River in the shape of a square doughnut comprised of 36 square blocks. The town would be surrounded on all four sides by a 100-acre Commons, with the town's four central blocks removed to create a capacious public square, later dubbed "The Diamond." The pre-eminent urban historian John Reps, writing in the '70s, praised the original plan for its careful design and "extremely generous" allocation of public space.
By the way, I think reconnecting East Ohio to North Federal is still worth it on its own, for internal North Side reasons. But that isn't to take away from how important it would be to finish the job in the other two directions.
The fate of Allegheny City may be one of the saddest chapters in the history of American cities. Take a well-planned and thriving town, forcibly annex it, politically enfeeble its wards, encroach on its public land, chop up its neighborhoods with railroads and highways, cut it off from its river, tear down more than 500 buildings and obliterate its downtown, streets and landmarks, and you have an urban narrative of tragic dimensions...
What emerged was an almost heartbreaking tale of an idealistic urban vision that was nurtured and enhanced for over 175 years -- only to be nearly wiped out in the course of a decade...The Presbyterian seminary ultimately lopped off a whole corner of the commons; the railway along the old streambed grabbed another chunk...Buffeted by the urban problems common to most American cities after World War II, the renamed "North Side" was deemed blighted despite much evidence to the contrary, leaving it vulnerable to the gargantuan renewal schemes of the 1960s. A new highway thickened the isolation belt of the railroad, and north of this wall, in the old heart of downtown Allegheny City, the bulldozers arrived in batallions. With the smashing of the beloved Market House on the Diamond, and the raising of a massive and mediocre suburban mall, it was as if the soul of the city itself had finally been extinguished.
...Why not create a new public market on the fourth square of the Diamond where the Market House once stood? Why not reopen Ohio Street to the neighborhoods, and Federal Street to the river? These arteries once brought the vitality of trolleys, cars, bikers and pedestrians right into the heart of Allegheny City, but were then cut off by the forbidding walls of Allegheny Center.
...
A more constructive strategy is to convince the mall's owners that a reconfiguration makes economic sense, and that the walls -- which after all are only steel frames with thin covers, can be readily opened up to let Federal through. Students at Carnegie Mellon's Urban Lab have developed a beautiful design for doing just that. Can removing a few steel columns and beams really be such a daunting task for the Steel City?
In fact, why not restore all 36 blocks and 14 streets of the original Redick plan?
...What could be built on the empty lots of the 36 blocks? New housing, affordable to a wide range of families, artists, students, retirees. New lofts, studios and offices. Shops with a local flavor. Expanded cultural offerings connected to the Children's Museum, Warhol, Mattress Factory, AIR Gallery, National Aviary and the Carnegie Science Center. New architecture combining beautiful materials and sensitive scale with green building techniques. All served by a light rail or bus rapid transit line from across the river.
one could argue the bolded is being built right now, and that tunnel should be the most difficult thing in that group of ideas to accomplish.
Unfortunately the County quite deliberately changed the planned route of the T extension from going into the heart of the North Side to going down the North Shore. Realistically, unless they decide to have the T do a 180 and come back (which they won't), the North Side needs a Plan B for a transit upgrade.
Unfortunately the County quite deliberately changed the planned route of the T extension from going into the heart of the North Side to going down the North Shore. Realistically, unless they decide to have the T do a 180 and come back (which they won't), the North Side needs a Plan B for a transit upgrade.
Bus rapid transit down Federal Street through Downtown and onto Oakland perhaps? It would basically be the spine line, but with buses instead.
Maybe in the medium to distant future the whole underground section of the T downtown could be a shared T and electric bus route where the buses could have ingress/egress near the North Shore Station, pass through Downtown and have a brand new ingress/egress going eastward from Steel Plaza in the direction of Forbes and Fifth. Though, at that point of building infrastructure you might as well come full circle and just build the damn T out to at least Oakland. Still, I think the BRT model (at least in terms of simply reorganizing existing streets and not building brand new ROW's) could be a good model for Pittsburgh to follow if people want to see new/better transit options in the not-so-distant future. The Port Authority is heavily-(perhaps over-)invested in their buses.
One way or another I'd like to see a dedicated ROW that crosses the river and provides express service to Oakland. That could be a reborn Spine Line, or a BRT plan that may or may not require a new bridge (or might make use of the NSC tunnel, but that tunnel is very poorly suited to such a plan), or the gondolas I keep pushing--but that would be the goal. I'd also agree it should eventually be electrified, but you could start the BRT version of this plan without doing that immediately.
Unfortunately the County quite deliberately changed the planned route of the T extension from going into the heart of the North Side to going down the North Shore. Realistically, unless they decide to have the T do a 180 and come back (which they won't), the North Side needs a Plan B for a transit upgrade.
physically, the area in question (the commons) is extremely close to the new T stop for PNC. don't get me wrong, you're still about five blocks, but that's closer than it was. second, there's no need to reverse, you just build a jct and divert before pnc. any study now will include ridership through downtown to the south side but won't include the costs of getting there. you could also put a road or a path in from ridge ave or even brighton rd to martindale. certainly an extension to manchester would be relatively easy.
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Originally Posted by Impala26
Maybe in the medium to distant future the whole underground section of the T downtown could be a shared T and electric bus route where the buses could have ingress/egress near the North Shore Station, pass through Downtown and have a brand new ingress/egress going eastward from Steel Plaza in the direction of Forbes and Fifth. Though, at that point of building infrastructure you might as well come full circle and just build the damn T out to at least Oakland.
I've been advocating using the T tunnel for electric/deisel buses for unifying the east and west busways but this is an interestin idea as well. aren't they studying oakland right now or do the hopes of a spine line live and die with onorato's gubernatorial aspirations?
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Originally Posted by Impala26
Still, I think the BRT model (at least in terms of simply reorganizing existing streets and not building brand new ROW's) could be a good model for Pittsburgh to follow if people want to see new/better transit options in the not-so-distant future. The Port Authority is heavily-(perhaps over-)invested in their buses.
rapid service would undoubtedly do wonders for their operating budget.
One way or another I'd like to see a dedicated ROW that crosses the river and provides express service to Oakland. That could be a reborn Spine Line, or a BRT plan that may or may not require a new bridge (or might make use of the NSC tunnel, but that tunnel is very poorly suited to such a plan), or the gondolas I keep pushing--but that would be the goal. I'd also agree it should eventually be electrified, but you could start the BRT version of this plan without doing that immediately.
I don't know about that. it roughly parallels mazeroski way, then turns west. at the turn, it shoud be easy to add a jct and have a line heading north along brighton rd, certainly diverging at allegheny ave would be easy. you might even be able to shoehorn an extension after pnc station to brighton rd. not perfect, not not impossible, and certainly still useful...particulary if it goes to oakland, but still useful for getting to downtown.
physically, the area in question (the commons) is extremely close to the new T stop for PNC. don't get me wrong, you're still about five blocks, but that's closer than it was.
But there are huge, psychologically imposing barriers in the way, plus even when you cross those barriers you still have a long haul from there to where most people actually live on the North Side. I know they are selling this as a stop that will serve the North Side, but realistically, it will only get a handful of riders that way.
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second, there's no need to reverse, you just build a jct and divert before pnc. any study now will include ridership through downtown to the south side but won't include the costs of getting there.
That junction is still going to be costly. And here is the thing: getting people from the North Side just to Downtown isn't really that big of a deal, and getting them from the North Side to the South Hills is even less of a need (note the T doesn't really service the South Side). What the North Side really needs is rapid service to Oakland and the East End, and the T doesn't provide that currently. So absent an existing T extension to Oakland, I strongly suspect the ridership projections would be such that any T project like this couldn't get funding.
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you could also put a road or a path in from ridge ave or even brighton rd to martindale. certainly an extension to manchester would be relatively easy.
Again it could be done, but I doubt it will, because the numbers won't work without first extending the T to Oakland.
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aren't they studying oakland right now or do the hopes of a spine line live and die with onorato's gubernatorial aspirations?
The last idea I knew of was trying to put together a PPP that would include both an Oakland Circulator and Downtown-Oakland Connector, and the latter could be an extension of the Circulator (likely APM technology), BRT, or a T extension. They solicited bids and the deadline is long past, and I haven't heard anything since.
Meanwhile, PAT's TDP has a Rapid Bus plan that would include the Oakland-Downtown corridor, but details on what that would mean and when it would happen have been sketchy.
I'd like to believe Onorato could revive the Spine Line. I'm not sure that is realistic, however. My bet is that the most we will get is quicker implementation of the Rapid Bus plan, maybe as a PPP.
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rapid service would undoubtedly do wonders for their operating budget.
Indeed. Rapid Bus is undoubtedly a no-brainer from an operating efficiency standpoint.
not perfect, not not impossible, and certainly still useful...particulary if it goes to oakland, but still useful for getting to downtown.
I basically already addressed this, but I just want to emphasize that I don't think any capital intensive project that starts in the North Side and effectively ends Downtown is going to get funded. In part that is for good reason--it isn't that far and there are lots of existing paths for walkers, drivers, or buses to take. I also think the NSC has such a bad reputation that anything which comes across as NSC 2.0 is going to be political poison.
But there are huge, psychologically imposing barriers in the way, plus even when you cross those barriers you still have a long haul from there to where most people actually live on the North Side. I know they are selling this as a stop that will serve the North Side, but realistically, it will only get a handful of riders that way.
it wouldn't hurt to improve access
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Originally Posted by BrianTH
That junction is still going to be costly.
eh, not THAT costly. the bulk of the work is done.
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Originally Posted by BrianTH
Again it could be done, but I doubt it will, because the numbers won't work without first extending the T to Oakland.
I'd have to disagree with this. there's absolutely no reason not to improve access to the station (which would also improve pedestrian access to pnc park.
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Originally Posted by BrianTH
I'd like to believe Onorato could revive the Spine Line. I'm not sure that is realistic, however. My bet is that the most we will get is quicker implementation of the Rapid Bus plan, maybe as a PPP.
Of course he could. willhe is the real question (if he's elected). he did promise to make it a priority
anyway., retruning to the subject of the thread, the idea of rebuilding the market house and reopening federal through the mall is interesting.
Last edited by pman; 08-18-2010 at 02:57 PM..
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