$14 million project to bring sidewalk, street upgrades in Hill District

A $14 million initiative is bringing improvements to sidewalks and streets throughout Pittsburgh’s Hill District, aiming to make a neighborhood that has historically suffered from disinvestment safer and more accessible.

The New Pathways project — funded largely by a U.S. Department of Transportation RAISE grant the city won under the Biden administration — will replace damaged and missing sidewalks, as well as the Chauncey Street steps, according to Steve Auterman, the city’s project manager for the initiative.

The project will include intersection upgrades along Centre Avenue where the road connects with Dinwiddie, Kirkpatrick and Reed streets.

The stretch will receive new, handicap-accessible curb breaks and curb extensions that expand the sidewalks at intersections, making it easier for pedestrians to cross the street and providing people with more space to wait for public transit.

“What the project intends to do is to make investments in improving the transportation infrastructure of the Hill District,” Auterman said. “The reason why it’s so important is that we all know the Hill District has seen disinvestment over the years.”

Other parts of the city, he said, have seen upgrades to streets and sidewalks that have been lacking in the Hill District.

The trio of intersections along Centre Avenue targeted in the effort will get new traffic signals, pedestrian countdown timers and push buttons people can press when they want a signal to cross the street. The approaches to each of the intersections will be altered to make the areas safer for drivers and pedestrians, Auterman said.

City officials considered several factors — including crashes at the sites — when deciding which intersections to upgrade, he said.

The intersection where Kirkpatrick meets Centre, he said, saw four wrecks involving pedestrians over the last four years.

“Safety and the need for traffic calming is something we see in every neighborhood in the city,” he said. “It’s kind of ubiquitous.”

Traffic calming is one of the most frequent requests the city receives, said Jan Raether, infrastructure engagement manager in the city’s Office of Neighborhood Services.

“It’s because whether you live, work or play in the city, you’re going to interface with city streets,” he said.

Though officials acknowledged many neighborhoods need to see such improvements, they said the Hill District was in particular need of such work because it hasn’t seen much of an effort to modernize streets and improve accessibility.

“The disinvestment in the Hill District for decades made the Hill District one of the most viable spots to have this work done,” said Paul Scott, who serves as Pittsburgh’s neighborhood services manager.

The project was one of 166 throughout the country awarded RAISE grants from the federal government in 2022.

The city received more than $11.3 million in federal funding and added about $2.8 million as a local match.

Currently, the project is in the design phase, Auterman said. Officials expect a “multi-year” construction effort to begin in 2027.

Carol Hardeman, who serves as executive director of the Hill District Consensus Group, said the neighborhood “absolutely” needs upgrades to its streets and sidewalks.

While she believes the city should make improvements to streets and sidewalks, Hardeman said she wants to see more than that for her neighborhood. She also wants to see money invested in fighting blight, building housing and fixing up parks.

“We want all the streets to be accessible,” she said.

In some places, Hardeman said, sidewalks are in such disrepair that wheelchair users are forced to ditch the sidewalks and ride down the street.

“The sidewalks are all crumbled up,” she said.