T extension north to Ross Park Mall: Good idea?

[phatty5011]

Would have been cool to have the T come upwards at the Clemente Bridge and turn into street level over the bridge and stay street level on the north shore. Would have been a nice feature and a big money saver.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Burgher

Great idea. But an insanely expensive one.

Sure would be nice to have some of that money in the bank that we used to build the
World's Most Expensive Tunnel* (*per linear foot)

the part where the T would go to the west busway wouldn't be all that expensive (the part where the T goes to Oakland would be). any other way to the airport promises to be more expensive IMO

[Blackbeauty212]

How about PAT solve these types of problem first before talking about massive rail expansions.

This was after the Fireworks downtown:

[pman]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

How about PAT solve these types of problem first before talking about massive rail expansions.

This was after the Fireworks downtown:

fair point since that is the easiest thing to fix with hundreds of buses sitting around doing nothing at that hour

[SolitaryThrush]

If they were going to extend the T further north, I always hoped they could put a stop / park-and-ride outside the Camp Horne Rd. exit where the old golf course has been sitting empty for nearly a decade. A McKnight Rd. stop would have to be at the "front", near the 279 exit, but then it would be purely a weekday commuter line, as passengers would be stranded once they got to McKnight Rd.

If we are still using our imaginations and would somehow extend the T along McKnight Rd., I always thought the Pine Creek / Rave Cinemas / Trader Horn location would be good for a station / park-and-ride, too. The line could then follow 19 to Wexford and parts north. Just heard they're hoping to put a Wal-Mart there, though.

[phatty5011]

Maybe one day the T extension will run through the Bluff to Oakland and CMU and a real Chinatown can emerge in the corner of Uptown. It would be a great spot for one! ...another pipe dream lol.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by phatty5011

Maybe one day the T extension will run through the Bluff to Oakland and CMU and a real Chinatown can emerge in the corner of Uptown. It would be a great spot for one! ...another pipe dream lol.

Honestly this should've happened before the T was built to the South Hills.... Now I doubt we'll ever see this in our lifetimes.

Only way I see a T expansion happening (in our lifetimes), is IF the US slips into some type of "Depression" state or something catastrophic happens, that the Feds decide to spend really big on Transportation infrastructure to get massive amounts of people back to work. The hope is Allegheny County gets a huge piece of that pie, as most of the funding would need to come from Federal Dollars, No-way does the City, County and State pony up the cash.

Right now the way things stand we may be in store for another Transportation Crisis. This time at the Federal Level as the Transportation Well is running Dry and Congress continues to do nothing, in order to oppose the President.

[Geeo]

The T was built in the South Hills in the early part of the last century, so that ship has sailed. The reason it's still around and was upgraded to include the downtown subway in the 1980s is that most of it was on its own right-of-way and didn't get clogged in street traffic.

There was a plan to build a subway from downtown through the Hill to East Liberty in 1906. Back then, it was a private company - the Pittsburgh Subway Company - that proposed it. Evidently they couldn't raise the private capital to do it.

I see that both Denver and Salt Lake City are building pretty comprehensive light rail systems. The way they did it was to vote themselves a transit tax to pay for it. The feds aren't picking up most of the cost anymore like they used to.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by Geeo

I see that both Denver and Salt Lake City are building pretty comprehensive light rail systems. The way they did it was to vote themselves a transit tax to pay for it. The feds aren't picking up most of the cost anymore like they used to.

And do you REALLY?! think a Tax increase has a Snowballs chance in hell of passing in Allegheny County.

People are still reeling from being sold on the Drink Tax while have their services continually cut. Granted the reason for the service cuts were due to State Funding and not the Drink Tax, however the public didn't understand that, they only understood they were paying more and getting less.

I don't see Allegheny County voting for any more Taxes going to PAT. PAT still has PR nightmare to clean up with the public.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by phatty5011

Priority for a T line

1. Airport
2. Extension from station square to south side over to OAK & Squirrel Hill
3. Extension from Downtown to Strip, Lawrenceville

I agree with the airport.

As for 2 and 3, we're talking about Port Authority of Allegheny County, not Port Authority of Pittsburgh City Proper. If you want county taxes to go towards this, you need to come up with service that meets the needs of more than just city residents.