Eastside pedestrian bridge finally getting under way (Pittsburgh, Liberty: credit, how much)

[BrianTH]

Here is the article:

Ellsworth-to-Eastside pedestrian bridge project to get under way soon

Here are some details on the design:

SHEILA KLEIN - Shady Liberty Footbridge (http://www.sheilaklein.com/pages/pittsburgh_photos.htm - broken link)

http://www.sheilaklein.com/images/pittsburgh_010.jpg (broken link)

http://www.sheilaklein.com/images/pittsburgh_08.jpg (broken link)

Older article on the design:

A pedestrian span in Shadyside bridges the gap between form and function. - Arts - Architecture - Pittsburgh City Paper

I'm very interested to see this in real life. As the last article explains, the basic structure and use of "suicide fencing" was dictated by PennDOT, and Klein did her best to make something cool out of it. This is a picture of the paint testing area, also referenced in the last article, that served as the inspiration for the surface paint scheme:

http://www.sheilaklein.com/images/pittsburgh_02.jpg (broken link)

[SteelCityRising]

Perhaps I'm just more adventurous than some, but my better half lives on Alder very near to both Highland and Ellsworth and we have never considered it to be an inconvenience to walk across the bridge on Highland that crosses the East Busway to access this shopping center. I'm not trying to be a negative nancy in regards to progress on the pedestrian front; however, I can think of numerous other areas in the city where pedestrian bridges are in dire need.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Wow, what a waste of taxpayer money.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

I wonder how much this would have cost without the artistic element? While nice, I can think of a number of better uses for these funds. I can think of a number of projects that could really help us over here in some of the forgotten west end neighborhoods.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

Perhaps I'm just more adventurous than some, but my better half lives on Alder very near to both Highland and Ellsworth and we have never considered it to be an inconvenience to walk across the bridge on Highland that crosses the East Busway to access this shopping center. I'm not trying to be a negative nancy in regards to progress on the pedestrian front; however, I can think of numerous other areas in the city where pedestrian bridges are in dire need.

Roughly speaking, this will save about 1000 feet of walking, aka about four blocks, for people going to the relevant destinations (anything due north or west of the north end, or due south or west of the south end).

1000 feet/four blocks isn't huge, but it is nothing to sneeze at either when you are talking about pedestrians. And this area is so dense, extending out the typical pedestrian zones from these end points by that much ends up covering a lot of businesses and residences.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

Wow, what a waste of taxpayer money.

I completely disagree. As transportation projects go, this is quite cheap, and if it allows a significant number of trips in this area to be walking instead of driving trips, which it should accomplish, that modest investment will easily pay for itself in transportation benefits.

Generally, I find it really frustrating that some people view very small investments in greatly improving pedestrian infrastructure to automatically be a waste of public funds. Such projects are often among the most efficient use of funds around in terms of benefit-to-cost ratios, particulaly in dense areas like this. In contrast, we blow much, much larger sums on road projects of questionable long-term value with very little protest.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by trlstreet

I wonder how much this would have cost without the artistic element? While nice, I can think of a number of better uses for these funds. I can think of a number of projects that could really help us over here in some of the forgotten west end neighborhoods.

There are no major structural elements dictated by the artistic element, and the artist was also very big on using recyled and other inexpensive materials. So while there may have been some small price premium, I doubt it was a lot, and this sort of sutainable artistic element adds back value over a very long period of time.

That said, I understand that people get frustrated when cool projects are done in areas already doing pretty well. But I think to be practical about it, you have to try to achieve a reasonable balance of such investments. A redeveloping East Liberty is going to continue to attract new businesses, new higher-income residents, increase local land values, and so forth. All that increases the taxable base in the City, and generally provides more resources that can be used for redevelopment elsewhere.

Note I'm not suggesting an entirely "trickle-down" theory--we need direct public investment in other areas as well (see, e.g., the other thread about the URA getting a bunch of tax credits). But it can't work 100% the opposite way either.

[FreightTrainRunning]

Originally Posted by trlstreet

I wonder how much this would have cost without the artistic element? While nice, I can think of a number of better uses for these funds. I can think of a number of projects that could really help us over here in some of the forgotten west end neighborhoods.

If we followed that logic, every bridge in the city would look like the Veteran's Bridge. Do we really want that? If we want this to be a vibrant growing city we don't want the whole place to look like a highway overpass.

[gg]

Seems like a nice idea and hopefully some people will actually walk to Whole Foods and such. I am for anything that promotes walking. Just walked from the FC Waterworks to Morningside and it took me 35 minutes. I mentioned that I walked it to a few people and they couldn't believe I walked that. When I said it took 35 minutes they had a confused look on their face. Guess what I am getting at is, you would be surprised how far you can walk in less than an hour. More enjoyable than driving amongst the huge SUVs everywhere.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

I can think of numerous other areas in the city where pedestrian bridges are in dire need.

Where?

Also, where on Ellsworth will the bridge be located?