Construction/Demolition at East Busway and Millvale Ave, Bloomfield (Pittsburgh: hotel, buy)

[kramhorse]

Until maybe a week ago there was a large, vacant industrial building where the East Busway passes under the Millvale Ave Bridge between Bloomfield and Oakland. The other day I noticed the entire structure had been demolished.

A parcel search on the county assessor's page reveals that part of property is owned by port authority and part by UPMC.

Anyone know what's being built here? Seems like a good place for a busway stop.

[Joshbarblahblah]

I have no idea, but I live right near there! I didn't even realize that the building had been demolished until I walked across the bridge last week. The demolition crew must have been very quick and/or very quiet.

[ditchdigger]

Seems like a good place for a busway stop.

Except for the fact that it's down there in a hole, Gross St isn't exactly pedestrian friendly, and there's railroad tracks between there and the busway...

[kramhorse]

Except for the fact that it's down there in a hole, Gross St isn't exactly pedestrian friendly, and there's railroad tracks between there and the busway...

That's also a perfect description of the Herron Ave stop. It didn't take an engineering marvel for Port Authority to put a bus stop there.

[Impala26]

It's both a blessing and a curse that the East Busway was built in such an undesirable "trough" in the landscape. Blessing in that by building it virtually no property relocation had to be done, but a curse in that for that same reason, it's not immediately accessible to as many avenues or community centers west of East Liberty. It basically bypasses most of Oakland, Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, Hill and Strip Districts.

[Geeo]

It was built in the valley because that's where the right of way was. Years ago, there were four tracks of the mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad in that valley. It's the only unimpeded access into the city from the east that does not cross streets or mingle with other traffic. I believe the Port Authority did buy a lot of adjacent land for the stations and had to rebuild the tracks and move them for Conrail to make room for the pavement for the busway.

[BrianTH]

The East Busway works very well as a way to speed commuters to the relevant commercial centers (Downtown, Shadyside, East Liberty, and Wilkinsburg). As local transit for the East End? Not so much.

[Hopes]

That's McKean's lower property, where I believe he originally planned to build the hotel.

[kramhorse]

The East Busway works very well as a way to speed commuters to the relevant commercial centers (Downtown, Shadyside, East Liberty, and Wilkinsburg). As local transit for the East End? Not so much.

Believe me, on most every route in the city I think PAT could do with fewer stops, not more, but between Herron and Negley you've got probably the longest stopless stretch of the entire east busway. Also, I wouldn't characterize it as local transit. Sure, the immediate vicinity is largely residential, but north from there it's less than a 5 minute walk to the Bloomfield/Liberty Ave business district and West Penn Hospital. A less than 5 minute walk to the south and you're at Center/Baum in Oakland.

I find both areas are underserved, though I understand that will change to some extent with the new TDP.


Hopes: Interesting about the hotel. Do you know what last occupied the space? It definitely looked industrial.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by kramhorse

Hopes: Interesting about the hotel. Do you know what last occupied the space? It definitely looked industrial.

It was part of the McKean dealership's buildings. They kept cars down there, did some work on them there, and perhaps used a portion as warehouse.

I believe McKean originally planned to build a hotel down there; however, there was a discussion in a previous thread that lead me to believe it's possible that McKean may have traded the Liberty Ave property with Don Allen sometime after McKean sold his dealership to Allen. The Allen property was near Baulm, which is a better place for a hotel than down the hill. However, I have absolutely no idea. All I know for sure is that McKean wanted to build a hotel in the area at least a decade ago, and there was recent talk of hotel development in the area that didn't get approval.