Pittsburgh Main Thoroughfares and the Down Town District / Improvements Necessary to Meet the City's Present and Future Needs

by Frederick Law Olmsted

A plan showing the thoroughfare extensions from the proposed South Hills tunnel. Figures refer to the descriptive paragraphs in the text

72. (a) Washington Avenue Improvement.—Washington Avenue forms too steep a line up to the tunnel from the valley thoroughfares—the West Liberty Road and the Sawmill Run Road proposed above (Section 71). A reasonable gradient can be secured by raising the grade of the West Liberty Road north from the West Side Belt railroad bridge to Kaiser Avenue, thence running a bridge north across the valley, then climbing gradually northward along the hillside and joining Washington Avenue just below the Castle Shannon railroad bridge. Above this point Washington Avenue should be regraded by cutting at the top of the steep portion, thus getting an easy gradient to the new tunnel.

(b) Southern Avenue Connection.—From a point just below the Castle Shannon railroad bridge a branch connection should be run west across the valley to Boggs Avenue, about at Minsinger Street, thus connecting the new tunnel with Boggs and Southern Avenues leading to Mt. Washington.

73. (a) Beechview Thoroughfare.—The higher lands to the south, upon which most of the future development will take place, can best be reached by a street around the west end of the Beltzhoover ridge at, or slightly above, the level of the Castle Shannon railroad, about the location of the present Boggstown Avenue. From a point two or three hundred feet east of Sylvania Street a sloping viaduct should be run southwest up over the street railway bridge and the West Side Belt tracks to the nose of the opposite hill. From here a new street should be run west climbing gradually along the north slope of the hill to the high land at the northern end of Beechview. An extension of this line should then be made from Crane Street and Center Avenue southerly along the west side of the Beechview ridge joining Seventh Avenue just south of South Sharon Avenue. Beechview and the West Broadway thoroughfare, running south along the ridge, can thus be reached on a gradient under 4 per cent instead of 6½ or 7 per cent along the present street car right-of-way, or considerably more than that on the present streets. The viaduct from Southern Avenue to Price's Hill, proposed in the recent bond issue program, has been studied with some care, but the steep gradients it would require—6 per cent or over—to reach the hilltop land have led to its abandonment in favor of the plan just proposed.

(b) West Broadway Extension.—West Broadway should be extended along the present street car route from Snyder Street south to the junction of the Banksville and West Liberty Roads.

(c) Lang Avenue Connection.—Starting again from the southerly end of the above proposed viaduct over Sawmill Run, a street should be built running south over the West Liberty road and striking the opposite hillside at or just above Lang Avenue. Southwest from here, nearly to Summerhill Street, Lang Avenue should be shifted slightly down the hillside to reduce its gradient from about 12 to 4 or 5 per cent.

(d) Sawmill Run Hillside Thoroughfare.—Returning now to the northerly end of the proposed viaduct over Sawmill Run, the thoroughfare from Washington Avenue should be extended south along the Castle Shannon railroad to the Library Road at Oak Station. The road should be built on the uphill side of the tracks to facilitate running branch roads to the high country east thereof. If the Sawmill Run valley shall become park land[20] this new street will be a border drive with a commanding location overlooking the park.

74. Fairhaven County Road.—Just south of Fairhaven the county road climbs the hill to the Brownsville Road on a 10 per cent gradient. This can easily be reduced one half by shifting the road a little west, down the hillside, and reaching the high land twelve hundred feet farther south.

75. Carrick Connection from the South Hills Tunnel.—Perhaps the most important district to be reached, via the proposed South Hills tunnel, is that tapped by the Brownsville Road, i. e. Mount Oliver, Lower Saint Clair, Carrick and most of Baldwin township. To serve this district requires a thoroughfare connection past the bad gradients of the Beltzhoover ridge, to Brownsville Road at or beyond Charles Street.