By Bob Bauder

Published: Thursday, November 1, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Monday, November 5, 2012

Imagine driving through Oakland without traffic backups on Fifth and Forbes avenues.

Planners want that and a neighborhood with community gardens, artwork and bicycle trails connected to other parts of Pittsburgh.

Those things are included for consideration under The Oakland 2025 Master Plan. Whether they will happen depends largely on community members and Oakland's ability to attract investors, said Wanda Wilson, executive director of the Oakland Planning and Development Corp.

“I think through the partnerships that we have we're pretty confident that we can begin to implement some of the components of this plan,” she said. “There are going to be some things that are going to take us a while to get there.”

The plan, which can be found on the OPDC website at www.opdc.org, offers a vision for the next 15 years, Wilson said. OPDC will outline the plan publicly from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the University of Pittsburgh's Alumni Hall.

“Once you have the vision, which this sets out, then we can really begin to look at how do we make this happen,” said City Councilman Daniel Lavelle, whose district includes part of Oakland. “From a governmental standpoint it helps us direct resources, usually financial, to projects over the years.”

Bob Bauder is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.

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