Pittsburgh Regional Transit will receive an $8 million federal grant to improve 10 light rail stations in Pittsburgh’s South Hills so they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Reps. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, and Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, issued separate news releases Friday announcing that PRT was approved for the competitive grant. Casey had pushed to include the All Station Accessibility Program to improve the nation’s oldest stations as part of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure improvement program.
“Inaccessible public transportation means seniors and people with disabilities can’t always get to work or the doctor’s office or grocery store,” Casey said. “This funding from the infrastructure law will make all stations along Pittsburgh’s Red Line accessible and bring us one step closer to granting all Pennsylvanians the transportation access they deserve.”
The grant will be used to improve stations at Palm Garden, Dawn, Hampshire, Stevenson, Poplar, Arlington, Smith Road, Casswell, Highland and Dorchester. Combined with a previous grant in 2022 that improved stations at Westfield, Shiras, St. Anne’s and Bethel Village, which means the entire line will be accessible when the latest group is finished.
PRT spokesman Jim Ritchie said the stations currently have what are called low-level platforms that do not match the higher entrance of rail cars so that riders who use wheelchairs can’t enter them. The grant will allow the agency to raise the platforms to allow wheelchair access.
The stations were built before the ADA was approved in 1990 so the agency wasn’t required to change them. They are located across the system with three in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood (Palm Garden, Dawn and Hampshire); one in Dormont (Stevenson); two in Mt. Lebanon (Poplar and Arlington); one in Castle Shannon (Smith Road); and three in Bethel Park (Casswell, Highland and Dorchester).
“PRT is grateful to the elected officials who make these valuable improvements possible on our rail system,” CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said in a statement. “Transit riders will benefit from the station updates for many years.”
Deluzio said in a news release that access to transit is “critical” for all residents to get medical care, food and other life necessities. “We need to make sure the Pittsburgh Regional Transit system serves the needs of everyone who uses it ….”
Lee wrote a letter to the Department of Transportation in January urging the agency to approve the grant.
“This grant will go a long way in ensuring that our region stays more connected, and that all people are able to use Pittsburgh Regional Transit with ease and comfort,” she said in a news release.
Ritchie said the agency hasn’t developed a schedule for installing the higher platforms, but they also will allow accessibility to new rail cars under design.
“We have not yet set a firm work schedule, but now with this news, we’ll be able to establish one soon,” he said.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.