Pittsburgh introduces $2M proposal to reduce Mt. Washington landslides

Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday introduced legislation that would allocate $2 million to a project designed to mitigate landslides at Mt. Washington, where several have occurred in recent years.

Mt. Washington, well known for its views of the city below, has seen multiple landslides, which have forced the city to invest in remediation efforts and repair damaged roadways.

In the latest effort to protect against future landslide damage, City Council introduced legislation that would provide up to $2 million for a landslide mitigation project, which would be conducted by Gannett Fleming, Inc., a local company that has designed more than 25 landslide stabilization projects over the last five years.

The money would come from a $10 million federal grant from the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency, which the city was awarded last year.

The project proposes to “preemptively secure the hillsides of Mt. Washington to minimize the probability of a catastrophic slope event,” according to a summary provided by Pittsburgh’s Office of Management and Budget.

“Today is an important step in issuing the design contract to actually start to see the needed construction next year,” said Dan Gilman, Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff.

There are tens of millions of dollars of needed repairs, he said, but, without the federal funding, there would be no funds to support those projects.

“I’m pleased to see the project is moving forward,” Doyle said. “It’s an important initiative to prevent future landslides on Mount Washington, and I was happy to support the City’s application to FEMA for the funding.”

Representative Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, helped to secure the federal funding for Mt. Washington’s landslide mitigation efforts.

“Pittsburgh has seen record amounts of rain over the past three years, which has not surprisingly resulted in record landslides,” Gilman said.

Three segments of Mt. Washington are being considered as part of the project. The first segment, identified as the “back side,” consists of the slope of Mt. Washington along State Routes 19 and 51 extending to the West End Circle. The second portion, the “nose,” refers to the narrow slope of Mt. Washington below the telecommunications tower and above freight rail lines. The final piece, the front side, is the slope facing downtown Pittsburgh, which extends over the Liberty Tunnel.