My Comprehensive Regional Transportation Plan...

Above is my complete regional rail transit network planned for the Greater Pittsburgh region.  These lines fall into a hierarchy.  Regional rail, identified with the white lines, will serve the more dense urban and suburban areas, while light rail (green, blue, and yellow) and heavy rail (red and orange) will concentrate mainly on the urban core areas within Allegheny County.  

Part four will identify the areas where Bus-Rapid Transportation will be the most suitable, primarily in places north of and south of the city.  Also outlined in part four will be the regional transit access points for each line as well as which access points will serve as inter-modal transportation centers or hubs.

Part 3: Cranberry-Butler Bus Rapid Transit.

In my previous post, I mentioned how I envision a couple of rail lines linking the northern exurbs with Downtown Pittsburgh.  I am changing my thinking and instead considering bus-rapid transportation for this corridor.  Communities are smaller and further apart from one another.  Therefore, the density is not quite there to support any heavy rail transportation.

I am, however, considering a heavy rail line along the northern/western shore of the Allegheny River to Freeport Borough in Armstrong County.  I am also considering a more regional bus system extending from each rail terminus.

Port Authority Vision, Part 2: Regional Rail

To continue with the topic of a regional transit system, I have devised a vision for a comprehensive regional rail system linking Downtown Pittsburgh with several of its regional population and job centers such as Greensburg, Washington, New Castle, and several points in between.  I have this thought out in phases, with the first phase containing a link along the old Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line to Greensburg and along a B&O spur to Washington.  The second phase would link New Castle and Beaver with Pittsburgh as well as Washington via the Chartiers Valley.

I am devising an idea that would link Butler and portions of Armstrong County.  According to the Butler County Comprehensive Plan, they are trying to improve transportation access, particularly public transit, between Butler and the rapidly growing community of Cranberry.  A existing freight line runs from Pittsburgh through Mars and up to Butler, with a spur cutting off towards New Castle.

Having a regional rail network would be extremely beneficial for a region starting to show signs of growth.  It would provide regional connections with Pittsburgh and its suburbs and countryside.  These connections could in turn spur economic growth not just in the city of Pittsburgh but throughout the region.

Peduto wants a more regional transit system. Here is my vision, part one...

In a recent article (I cannot remember if I read it in the Post-Gazette or Tribune Review), Peduto stated how he would like to work towards expanding Pittsburgh's regional public transit system, especially its light rail system to serve places in all directions from Downtown.

I, too, share this vision, especially with Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and the region as a whole growing again for the first time in decades.  The South Hills are already well served by two LRT lines that provide service to Library, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, and Castle Shannon to name a few places as well as Downtown.  An extension to the international airport has been discussed for years, especially with the recent growth that has been taking place along the Parkway West corridor.  Cranberry is one of the fastest growing communities in the country.  Both are just a couple of places that could benefit from increased public transit service to Downtown Pittsburgh.  I haven't even touched base on Oakland, the Allegheny Valley, or other parts of the region.

Above, I put together a map that I created in Google Earth.  For right now, I foresee an expansion of the existing Blue and Red Lines.  The Blue Line would run from Library, PA through Downtown and along an alignment through Allegheny Center and up through the North Hills to Cranberry.  The Red Line (renamed Green Line) would run from South Hills Village in Upper St. Clair/Bethel Park and eventually out along the Ohio River to the Airport.  I see three additional lines.  A yellow line would run from the First Avenue station and run parallel to the Monongahela River to Bradocc and from the Steel Plaza station up through the Strip District to Highland Park.  For the eastern neighborhoods, I envision two heavy rail lines.  The Red Line would follow an alignment along Fifth Avenue from Steel Plaza to Oakland and East Liberty to Forest Hills.  The Orange Line would extend from the intersection at Fifth and Penn, following Penn Avenue through East Liberty, the Strip District, and into Downtown eventually crossing the Allegheny River directly beneath the Clemente Bridge, directly serving Allegheny Center and the Mexican War Streets.  In the map, I have both of these lines extending further, but for right now, I don't think this part is very feasible.

I also have a vision for a regional rail network providing service to places like New Castle, Beaver, Butler, Greensburg, and Washington, PA.  I will post this map in the very near future.

Dick's Sporting Goods expanding its headquarters campus.

The latest development news is Dick's Sporting Goods is about to expand its current headquarters located just north of one of the runways at Pittsburgh International Airport.  They apparently will construct another building to be built on a piece of land about 73 acres in size.  Indications seem to be that this building will be immediately to the east of the existing headquarters building.  If that is the case, it will occupy land that was originally proposed to hold a cargo storage and distribution facility.  If that is the case; if Dicks will now occupy this land, I guess it would be safe to say that the cargo facility will not come to fruition.  That would be a shame, but apparently cargo demand seems to have subsided.  Nonetheless, a major expansion of a local Fortune 500 company is still a positive thing for the region.  Full stories are available at post-gazette.com and at triblive.com.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Up close and personal with my vision for Leland Pointe, Baldwin Borough.

This is an aerial image of my vision for Leland Pointe, located in South Baldwin. Currently, Leland Pointe consists of over a thousand recently-renovated one- and two-bedroom apartments.   This vision will broaden the tax base for a municipality that is almost entirely residential.

Streetscape of Leland Pointe Town Center.  Pictured here is a new bridge located to the north of Curry Hollow Road.  Left of center is access to a commuter rail station along the existing and lightly used CSX line.

As indicated in my vision for Baldwin Borough, there are two areas of likely economic development investment. One of those areas includes the existing Leland Pointe Apartments, formerly known as Green Meadows. Recently, Green Meadows experienced a change of ownership and ultimately a massive renovation of the rental properties. My vision actually came together before these renovations took place.  With the use of Google SketchUp, I have put together some three-dimensional drawings of how I would like the future of Leland Pointe to look. 

Other proposals, ranging from a public golf course to a larger shopping center, were loosely discussed.  Considering the existing apartment community sits adjacent to a suburban strip mall, I thought, "why not incorporate my vision into a redevelopment of this shopping complex?" This is adjacent to a major arterial roadway in the South Hills, and a lightly used rail line running from Pittsburgh to Washington could potentially be used as a commuter rail line linking this neighborhood with two large employment centers in the region.  

I developed my vision around these two amenities. Another existing amenity includes Leland Park Community Center, which contains athletic fields and a multipurpose facility. Port Authority also provides bus service courtesy of the Y47 Curry Flyer. With a commuter rail line potentially making good use out of the lightly-used CSX line, this could possibly lead to a rerouting of this bus line and make viable the potential for future bus lines connecting riders to Leland Pointe as well as the commuter rail line to Pittsburgh and Washington. With all of these amenities in place, my Leland Pointe vision will include:

• Ample recreational or open space
• Improved public transportation access
• A more diverse tax base for Baldwin Borough as well as a portion of Jefferson Hills
• Improved traffic flow via an improved street grid layout, which will include an extension of Macassar Drive to Brownsville Road to improve access to this neighborhood.

This vision is still a work in progress. More information as well as updated images will soon follow. Stay tuned!

Pittsburgh's Produce Terminal Building Granted Historic Status, Demolition Delayed

From today's Tribune-Review:

Produce Terminal marked historic, delaying demolition plans

Developer Buncher wants to construct a $400 million mixed-use development in Pittsburgh's Strip District, a neighborhood once known for trucking and wholesale that today functions as a tourist and retail destination.  This new development will bring commercial use and additional residential units to a neighborhood already ripe with residential development.  In order for this development to go through, however, Buncher wants to demolish a portion of the Produce Terminal Building, which it was built in 1929 and expanded in 1931 as the Pennsylvania Railroad Fruit Auction and Sales Terminal.

While Buncher has the development rights to the surrounding land, it has yet to acquire the historic building from the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority.  Just yesterday, the Pittsburgh Historic and Landmarks Foundation granted the building as historic, which means Buncher cannot make any changes to the architectural character to the building which would include demolition of the roughly one-third of the building to make way for its development.

While I am not entirely in favor of this building (or part of it) being leveled for development purposes, I do believe it is necessary to restore as much of the street grid as possible in order to reconnect the Strip with the Allegheny River.  About seven years ago someone drew renderings of how this building could look with the intact street grid in place while having a minimal impact on the structure.  In this series of computer-aided drawings, much of the building remains intact while just enough of the structure is removed to allow for traffic to pass through it.  The link to these images is pasted below.  I came across them while participating in an on-going discussion of Pittsburgh development over at skyscraperpage.com.

Pfaffman's renderings