Plan Suggests Improvements for City Streets

Public invited to review proposals at meeting Monday

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
April 17, 2024
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

City residents Regis Mellinger and Cheryl Cotter discuss a transportation map with Carla Lukehart, a landscape architect at Environmental Planning & Design LLC. (Tube City Almanac photo)

A plan that envisions safer, smoother pedestrian corridors throughout the city is being unveiled for public comment this month.

City residents and property owners can see the proposal — and ask questions — at 6 p.m. April 22 during a meeting at the Calvary-First United Methodist Church campus at the corner of Versailles and Cornell avenues.

Prepared by Environmental Planning & Design LLC, the plan is the product of nearly two years of research, including surveys of city residents. It calls for replacing sidewalks and wheelchair ramps along two main throughfares between the Youghiogheny River waterfront and Renziehausen Park.

It also recommends improved signage and pavement markings for bicycle lanes, as well as replacing street trees in many areas.

The proposal was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention through the county’s ActiveAllegheny grant program, which channels economic development support to local projects that improve pedestrian and vehicle access to jobs, public services and attractions.

At an initial public meeting on Monday at Trinity Church of God in Christ on Jenny Lind Street, a small crowd of interested residents met with Carla Lukehart, a landscape architect with EPD, to see the plans for themselves.

City Councilwoman Amber Webb and Jennifer Vertullo, assistant to McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, also attended.

EPD, a Pittsburgh-based firm, has also worked on similar studies for other Western Pennsylvania municipalities, including Hermitage, Millvale and Etna, as well as comprehensive regional plans for Elizabeth Twp. and the City of Greensburg.

Lukehart said that over the past two years, EPD staff took surveys to International Village, Good Neighbor Day, the Renzie fishing derby and other community events and asked residents to describe their daily commute, and explain which businesses and public services they were most often trying to access.

(Courtesy Environmental Planning & Design)

Residents told EPD they need safe routes to places such as UPMC McKeesport hospital, schools, Carnegie Library of McKeesport, a variety of stores and day-care facilities.

“The biggest complaint we heard was that people who need a wheelchair really can’t get anywhere on their own,” due to missing or damaged sidewalks and curb cuts, Lukehart said.

Residents told survey-takers they also are trying to walk to bus stops for Pittsburgh Regional Transit as well as the smaller local buses operated by Heritage Community Transportation.

Based on that input, Lukehart said, designers focused their efforts on two major west-east corridors through the city — Versailles Avenue and Jenny Lind Street — as well as Freemont Street, which connects the two.

Lukehart said residents of those streets complained about a lack of curb-cuts for wheelchairs and strollers, sidewalks that are blocked by tree roots or debris, and dangerous intersections and crosswalks.

McKeesport residents told planners that broken sidewalks, like this one on Jenny Lind Street, are dangerous for pedestrians and impossible to navigate for strollers and wheelchairs. (Tube City Almanac photo)

The plan prepared by EPD calls for new sidewalks and ramps, new crosswalks and signage, and removal of old trees that have caused pavement damage, and replacement of those with native trees that have deeper root systems.

EPD also is recommending that Spring Street be reopened between Cornell Street and Jenny Lind Street to provide better pedestrian and bicycle access. The 0.2-mile stretch of road, which suffers from severe drainage problems, has been closed since 2014. A 2006 estimate concluded that repairing the damage would cost at least $1 million.

Although the corridors studied by EPD would connect with the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail at one end, and a proposed White Oak to South Park bike trail at the other end, Lukehart said EPD is not suggesting the city create dedicated bike lanes such as those in Pittsburgh.

“There isn’t enough traffic (on those streets) to merit fully separate bike lanes,” she said. Instead, Lukehart said, EPD is recommending “share the road” bike graphics along Versailles and Jenny Lind.

In addition, the corridors that were studied were not primarily being studied for recreational use. Rather, Lukehart said, EPD was looking at the most densely populated parts of McKeesport, where a high percentage of residents either use public transit or walk to stores, doctors, churches and other neighborhood locations.

“We were looking at safety, accessibility and connectivity,” she said.

Still unclear are the costs of the sidewalk improvements.

According to nationally published estimates, a concrete sidewalk generally costs $12 per square foot. Versailles Avenue is 1.4 miles, or 7,400 feet long, with sidewalks on both sides. The minimum recommended width for a sidewalk, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, is eight feet.

Using those numbers, replacing the sidewalks on just one side of Versailles Avenue could cost well over $700,000.

Lukehart said EPD has drawn up detailed plans and proposals to improve the sidewalks and bicycle access, but it will be up to the city, county and other agencies to decide whether to tackle the projects; in what order; and how to raise the funding.

Another consideration, she said, will be coordinating repairs with utilities, such as Peoples Gas, to ensure that underground service connections are replaced before the sidewalks are torn up.

Jason Togyer is volunteer executive director of Tube City Community Media Inc. and editor of Tube City Almanac.

Originally published April 17, 2024.

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