Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure is taking steps beginning Wednesday to reduce speeding in the Homewood area.
Responding to concerns from residents, the city will install traffic calming measures on Hamilton Avenue between North Braddock Avenue and Oakwood Street and on Kelly Street between Brushton Avenue and Oakwood.
The work will start on Wednesday, weather permitting, and is expected to last three days with work scheduled from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. No-parking signs will be placed on the streets temporarily.
On Hamilton, speed tables will be placed in two locations to encourage motorists to go slower. Speed tables usually extend across the width of the roadway, have a flat top, and generally allow speeds of up to 45 miles an hour.
Traffic on Hamilton will be limited to one lane during construction with flaggers controlling traffic.
On Kelly, crews will install two speed humps, half-round features that stick up a little higher and generally allow vehicles to go no faster than 20 miles an hour safely.
Kelly will be closed to motorists, but flaggers at each end will allow residents to enter and leave.
When the project is finished, the approach areas on both streets will be clearly marked so that motorists know they should slow down because of the upcoming speed-breaking device.
The city is installing the devices after traffic reviews in 2020 found that 60% of vehicles exceeded the speed limit of 25 miles an hour. Of those speeding, about 85% were going faster than 33 miles an hour.
In a news release, the city said speeding rates and traffic accident data show a “strong need” for calming measures.
“Traffic calming measures like these are an important part in ensuring that our neighborhoods are safe and will help us move towards our vision of zero traffic fatalities in our city,” Mayor Ed Gainey said in the release.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.