$1 million plan for improvements along Liberty Ave. in Strip District

PITTSBURGH — The city of Pittsburgh and PennDOT are working on a nearly $1 million plan to improve safety along Liberty Avenue in the Strip District.

“When it’s busy, cars just fly past, people honestly don’t really yield to any of the traffic signs,” said Stephanie Oddi, who walks along the busy street every day to get to work.

She’s all too familiar with how unsafe it can be.

“When we’re walking, people will turn right when they’re not supposed to, people will fly by on a red light. It’s kind of dangerous for us,” said Oddi.

City data shows 93 reported crashes along Liberty Avenue between 2017 and 2019, including 26 at the intersection with 16th Street.

The improvement project calls for new traffic lights at seven intersections between 16th and 31st Streets, as well as widened sidewalks, additional bus shelters and widened lanes.

“I’ve almost got hit three or four times, so I think somebody or something should be done,” said Tiffany Painter, who frequently walks along Liberty Avenue.

According to the city’s website, https://engage.pittsburghpa.gov/liberty-avenue-hsip, the proposed improvement project is still awaiting final design submission.

When approved, it’ll be financed primarily through a community block grant.

Painter and Oddi are happy something is finally being done.

“It’s unsafe,” said Painter. There’s cars flying up and down the street, half the cars don’t stop at the red lights.”

“From my own experiences and my coworkers’ experiences, this has been an issue for a really long time,” added Oddi.

Officials have not said when work on this project will get underway or how long it might take.

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