Expressway, not urban boulevards, needed
The news has been littered with fiction-like arguments against the proposed Mon-Fayette Expressway from recently formed groups. I am on the executive committee of the Fayette Expressway Completion Organization (FAECO) – a pro-expressway group that has advocated for well over 10 years the expedient completion of the entire 68-mile expressway and 30-mile Southern Beltway for the entire region’s benefit. I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of explaining to someone from out of town how to get to Pittsburgh International Airport, Monroeville or even downtown. Anyone who has tried to navigate to these destinations from the Mon Valley or South Hills can understand that it is indeed a challenge to explain to an unaware outsider.
Although the daily headaches of traveling is a pain that I’ve grown use to, I’ve always wondered why we have a Parkway North, Parkway West, and Parkway East but no Parkway South. Those who traverse these roads may complain about congestion, but imagine what your commute would be like if those highways were not there? If you live in the South Hills or Mon Valley, that imagined thought is a daily nightmare. What can we do to correct these transportation issues?
Maybe we can build an “urban boulevard” that is packed full of every driver’ s dream: traffic lights. Those who drive McKnight Road, Business Route 22 in Monroeville, or Route 51 in the South Hills enjoy those roads immensely. Anyone who takes an hour of time to sit and observe the tens of thousands of faces and gestures from drivers of these roads are constantly reminded that those roads are a problem rather than a solution.
An “urban boulevard” is basically similar to Route 51 – a local highway that has traffic signals, numerous intersections and minimal speeds. This may assist in residents going to the store, but it does nothing to address the problem of through traffic and residents who wish to travel outside their neighborhoods. Those who drive Route 51 daily would agree that building another street littered with traffic lights, brake lights and emergency vehicle lights is certainly not worthwhile.
However, I’ve often thought that we could extend the light rail system to ease traffic problems. But, the agency that does such undertakings recently cut service, raised fares and saw a lack of state funding which has resulted in sharp decreases in demand for public transportation. It is highly unlikely that such an agency would be interested in extending its network.
How about improving the roads we already have – such as widening Routes 51, 885 and 837? Simply widening these roadways would do little to help safety concerns and decrease commute times. In addition, widening these roads will result in hundreds if not thousands of business displacements.
These solutions do not address two other key transportation issues in the region: safety and environmental. Safety is poor because the current highways are insufficient for the traffic volumes.
Safety on the Parkway East must be addressed. Hazardous materials and over height trucks that are restricted from traveling through the Squirrel Hill tunnels are forced to detour through city and neighborhood streets. In addition to that, the Parkway East has over three times the amount of daily traffic that highway planners designed for in the 1950s.
Route 51, 885 and 837 are over-congested and see an above-average number of accidents and related injuries as a result of poor traffic flow, pathetically designed intersections and too much traffic on too little road. Crawling and congested traffic causes more pollution to the environment. Studies have proven that traffic that flows at a constant speed of 55 mph has fewer emissions and saves fuel. Traffic that is forced to continuously stop for traffic signals, and travel at very low speeds causes more emissions and uses more fuel.
Many of us have heard the debate over the completion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway’s northern section from Jefferson Hills at Route 51 to Pittsburgh and Monroeville at I-376. Opponents have come out against the plan by offering an alternative that includes urban boulevards, light rail and trails.
These groups do not want the project continued from its current northern terminus at Jefferson Hills. Instead, they wish travelers of the existing expressway and residents of the South Hills and Mon Valley to take a trolley at the end of the highway, ride a bike or build another road similar Route 51 into town.
To put that suggestion on an equal footing, imagine truncating the Parkway West at Carnegie and requiring drivers to abandon their automobiles and take a light rail train into town. Think about ending the Parkway East at Squirrel Hill and requiring drivers to commute down an urban boulevard like Forbes Avenue to get to work.
Opponents indicate that the expressway will not bring economic development to depressed areas of the Mon Valley. Proof of highways bringing economic development lies in the Parkway North. Its completion has brought a wealth of development to the North Hills. There certainly are no guarantees that the Mon-Fayette’s completion will revitalize the Mon Valley and South Hills, but it can be guaranteed that without it the stagnant state of the economy of the region will continue unchanged.
This highway’s completion will solve safety problems on the Parkway East by allowing restricted traffic to go around the Squirrel Hill tunnel on a limited-access highway. It will also afford commuters of the East Hills and Mon Valley the option to take either the Parkway East or the Mon-Fayette to get into town thus relieving traffic bottlenecks at the Squirrel Hill tunnels.
This highway’s completion will allow South Hills and Mon-Valley commuters to experience the ability to get into town safely, efficiently and quickly. This highway’s completion will alleviate air pollution by giving commuters and travelers a road that will allow them to maintain constant interstate speeds. This highway’s completion will provide the South Hills and Mon Valley a foundation to build upon for economic development. It will also allow existing firms easier access to their businesses.
Pittsburgh commuters and travelers can not allow misinformation, radical views or groups with ulterior purposes to stand in the way of a new and efficient highway to be built in a region in which transportation deficiencies and transportation safety concerns are a daily part of our lives.
Kris Moser is an executive committee member of the Fayette Expressway Completion Organization.