Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure will spend Thursday and Friday installing traffic-calming measures on North Charles Street in Perry South.
The work, which will be dependent on good weather, will involve placing raised crosswalks and a speed table to improve the safety for pedestrians around Fowler Park. The neighborhood was selected for the project after a 2022 traffic study showed about 82% of drivers exceeded the speed limit of 25 miles an hour, including one clocked at 78 miles an hour.
Raised crosswalks are essentially speed tables raised to the level of sidewalks across the complete road to encourage drivers to slow down and give pedestrians a safer way to cross the street. On North Charles, one will be installed at Shelton Avenue, which is also a bus stop and entrance to the park, and the other at Norwood Avenue, another bus stop.
The speed table will be between Selton Avenue and Canter Way to slow traffic. There also will be pedestrian crossing improvements at Linwood Avenue and Kimberlin Street.
During work between Linwood and Perrysville Avenue, flaggers will allow alternating traffic through the construction area. Signs to warn motorists of the raised crosswalks and speed table will be installed in a few days.
This is the second round of traffic-calming measures on North Charles. Previously, crews made improvements between Irwin and Kenn avenues.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.