Parkway East Survey

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Yeah, who needs highways? We should all just sit in gridlock on curvy, two-lane back roads. I'm sure idling away all that gas is great for the environment.

I can understand opposition to a new highway, but the easiest way to tell who the militant anti-highway people are is when they shout down the mere suggestion of improving an existing highway that's functionally the same as it was when it was built 60 years ago. That's ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned.

I don't think that there is anyone out there who doesn't want to at least see the parkway upgraded to modern standards, it's building completely new highways that is the controversial issue. (Southern beltway, MFE)

[dtw0592]

The Parkway East (especially coming out of downtown) is awfully close to a lot of buildings. Do you think they would have to tear them down if they decided to widen it? I would certainly hope not.

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Yeah, who needs highways? We should all just sit in gridlock on curvy, two-lane back roads. I'm sure idling away all that gas is great for the environment.

I can understand opposition to a new highway, but the easiest way to tell who the militant anti-highway people are is when they shout down the mere suggestion of improving an existing highway that's functionally the same as it was when it was built 60 years ago. That's ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned.

[dtw0592]

I think the Southern Beltway will help the communities in Washington county, but it is not necessarily going to boost usage of the Pittsburgh airport. I think part of the reason the airport is so under used is because of fuel costs and the economy. I heard they were talking about closing the air force base too, but I don't know if they made that decision or not.

Originally Posted by airwave09

I don't think that there is anyone out there who doesn't want to at least see the parkway upgraded to modern standards, it's building completely new highways that is the controversial issue. (Southern beltway, MFE)

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by dtw0592

The Parkway East (especially coming out of downtown) is awfully close to a lot of buildings. Do you think they would have to tear them down if they decided to widen it? I would certainly hope not.

Honestly, I don't expect the "Parkway Central" to be widened at all; it really is impossible there. It doesn't need to be widened anyway, because the traffic volume past downtown isn't as high as it is to the east or west. In fact, it might not even need to be widened between Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies either, although I would like to see that segment rebuilt with full 12' exterior shoulders. There are currently no full shoulders there, hence the "emergency pull-off" areas, but if a car breaks down and can't reach an emergency pull-off, then it's bound to block traffic since there's nowhere else to go. That's why I think full shoulders are necessary there.

Otherwise, if the Parkway East was widened to six lanes east of the Boulevard of the Allies, property impacts would be minimal. The only areas where some property acquisition would be likely are near the Edgewood/Swissvale interchange, and maybe near the Greensburg Pike interchange. There are about 10 to 12 properties immediately east of the East Busway overpass that would have to be acquired in order to fit a six-lane highway in. As for the properties near the Greensburg Pike interchange, it's possible that no property would have to be acquired at all if the interchange is eliminated. All it is is an eastbound off-ramp anyway, so if people traveling eastbound want to access Greensburg Pike, then they can just do what the westbound traffic does: Use the Churchill interchange, and head west on Penn Avenue to get to Greensburg Pike. Eliminate the Greensburg Pike interchange, and all that'd likely be needed are sound barriers.

The more I examine satellite images of the Pittsburgh area, the more I realize an ironic benefit to Pittsburgh's topography: The Parkways East and West have to be the most unobtrusive urban highways in the United States. There's literally no development near the Parkway West once it enters the city limits, and the Parkway East passes between neighborhoods and suburbs instead of going directly through any. In the city, it straddles the boundaries between Oakland and Hazelwood, and Squirrel Hill and Greenfield. In the suburbs, it straddles the boundaries between Edgewood and Swissvale, and Wilkinsburg and Forest Hills. This is exactly why property acquisition would be minimal if either highway was expanded to six lanes. The only significant obstacles are the tunnels.

[dtw0592]

It would be great if they could widen the tunnels to at least one more lane. That, along with making the shoulder larger would help some.

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Honestly, I don't expect the "Parkway Central" to be widened at all; it really is impossible there. It doesn't need to be widened anyway, because the traffic volume past downtown isn't as high as it is to the east or west. In fact, it might not even need to be widened between Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies either, although I would like to see that segment rebuilt with full 12' exterior shoulders. There are currently no full shoulders there, hence the "emergency pull-off" areas, but if a car breaks down and can't reach an emergency pull-off, then it's bound to block traffic since there's nowhere else to go. That's why I think full shoulders are necessary there.

Otherwise, if the Parkway East was widened to six lanes east of the Boulevard of the Allies, property impacts would be minimal. The only areas where some property acquisition would be likely are near the Edgewood/Swissvale interchange, and maybe near the Greensburg Pike interchange. There are about 10 to 12 properties immediately east of the East Busway overpass that would have to be acquired in order to fit a six-lane highway in. As for the properties near the Greensburg Pike interchange, it's possible that no property would have to be acquired at all if the interchange is eliminated. All it is is an eastbound off-ramp anyway, so if people traveling eastbound want to access Greensburg Pike, then they can just do what the westbound traffic does: Use the Churchill interchange, and head west on Penn Avenue to get to Greensburg Pike. Eliminate the Greensburg Pike interchange, and all that'd likely be needed are sound barriers.

The more I examine satellite images of the Pittsburgh area, the more I realize an ironic benefit to Pittsburgh's topography: The Parkways East and West have to be the most unobtrusive urban highways in the United States. There's literally no development near the Parkway West once it enters the city limits, and the Parkway East passes between neighborhoods and suburbs instead of going directly through any. In the city, it straddles the boundaries between Oakland and Hazelwood, and Squirrel Hill and Greenfield. In the suburbs, it straddles the boundaries between Edgewood and Swissvale, and Wilkinsburg and Forest Hills. This is exactly why property acquisition would be minimal if either highway was expanded to six lanes. The only significant obstacles are the tunnels.