Presenter
Presented by Mr. O'Connor
Title
Resolution authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Engineering and Construction in conjunction with City Planning to undertake a comprehensive traffic study of Regent Square, Squirrel Hill, Swisshelm Park, Greenfield, Hazelwood, Hays and Oakland in order to document the issues presented by vehicular traffic on the Parkway East (Interstate 276).
Body
WHEREAS, within the Southeastern sector of the city has had a long standing traffic management problem which adversely effects the quality of life in city residential neighborhoods and business districts; and,
WHEREAS, with the development of the Waterfront, a large retail, commercial and residential development in Homestead, traffic impacts have worsened the traffic conditions in the Beechwood Boulevard/Brownshill corridor; and
WHEREAS, the Parkway East (Interstate 276) has significant traffic volumes causing backups (averaging six miles) at the Squirrel Hill tunnel during the morning rush hour. Conversely, in the evening rush hour traffic is lined up to the downtown. Due to the inability of the Parkway East to handle traffic volumes, commuter traffic is increasingly opting to use city streets to by-pass the congestion at the tunnels. As a result of this commuter traffic in the city's neighborhoods of Regent Square, Squirrel Hill, Swisshelm Park, Greenfield, and Hazelwood, Hays and Oakland, as well as Schenley Park, there has been a continuous and ever increasing denigration in the quality of life in these areas and increased risk of injury to both pedestrians and vehicle operators; and,
WHEREAS, these impacts effect safety of city residents due to commuter overflow into neighborhood streets, public health due to poor air quality, ability to maintain business district viability and availability of parking in residential and business districts. To date, there has been no overall strategy on the part of the city, county and the state to deal with commuter related transportation issues in the aforementioned areas of the city.
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Pittsburgh as follows:
Section 1. The City of Pittsburgh is authorized to undertake a comprehensive traffic study of these areas in order to document the issues presented by vehicular traffic. Furthermore, the traffic study should be conducted so as to provide baseline information to be utilized by the city, county and state to develop a comprehensive plan to alleviate the adverse impacts of the vehicular traffic problem.
Section 2.
The Directors of the Departments of City Planning and Engineering and Construction shall report back to the Council within forty-five (45) days, with a report detailing:
A. Scope of the Traffic Study;
B. Estimate of cost;
C. Identification of participating public/private entities willing to bear a portion of cost of the study or the provisions of in-kind services in support of the study, such as:
1. Allegheny County
2. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
3. Bordering municipalities
4. Hospitals
5. Universities
6. Private developers
Due to the fact that there are multiple jurisdictions involved, the City of Pittsburgh is authorized to pursue a cost sharing arrangement with Allegheny County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to bear a proportionate cost of the traffic study. Furthermore, private developers, such as Continental Properties should be approached to participate in financing the study in as much as developments such as the waterfront in Homestead have contributed to greatly to the traffic problems experienced on city streets.
The Council respectfully requests that the administration develop a cost estimate for such a study and report the estimate back to the Council for consideration during the budget deliberations