PITTSBURGH — Doctor Heather Starr Fielder is the Chair of the Department of Community Engagement and Leadership at Point Park University. She and doctoral candidate Kelly Wilding spent nearly three months surveying people in Pittsburgh to figure out a way to make Downtown Pittsburgh’s alleyways safer and cleaner.
“Especially since the pandemic, coming downtown you see a lot has gone the other way,” said Lori Kuba, who works in town.
“Every morning I usually have to walk around because I walked through here one time and there was about 60 rats coming out of a hole and I just wonder when they’re going to clean it up,” said Fredo Gocha, who also works downtown.
His concerns were verified in the report, where researchers observed dark and dirty alleys that had rodents, trash, urine and feces.
“Last time I was here getting my suit made, I came and there was a pile of poop right there on the sidewalk…a rather large pile of poop definitely not from an animal,” Quinten Odea said.
Researchers and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership say the current alleyway renovation plans point to five of the worst alleyways in the city, including:
- Coffee Way
- Delray Street
- Exchange Way
- McCrea Way and
- Mentor Way
The report says since the PDP hired the company “Renewal” to pressure wash alleys and sidewalks in the city, conditions have improved — but there’s still a lot to do. Specifically, with bathroom accessibility and reducing trash.
“There are ways to keep those dumpsters cleaner, to maybe minimize the amount of dumpsters that we have, to prevent the public from throwing their own trash in the dumpsters and really just to make sure the alleys stay clean,” Starr Fielder said.
One of the recommendations to handle the trash issue is to implement trash compactors. One trash compactor can take the place of eight dumpsters.
Other recommendations include placing locks and cameras on dumpsters and fining those who break the rules.
Another suggestion, offer restrooms that are mobile and regularly cleaned.
“If we had some more available public restrooms it is a root cause for some of the problems that we’re seeing in the alleys and in the streets,” Starr Fielder said.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW