The numbers don’t lie: From 2018 to 2022, there were 54 crashes with two fatalities and 21 injuries at four intersections in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood.
As a result, the city has started a series of safety improvements known as the Lawrenceville Safety Suite to slow traffic and improve conditions for motorists and pedestrians.
The improvements, which began last week, will include pedestrian crossing islands, limiting left turns and installing devices known as “chokers” to create pinch points that slow traffic. The changes will occur at three intersections on Penn Avenue — Main, 39th and Fisk streets — and on Main Street between Penn and Butler Street.
Work is expected to continue through this week to install pedestrian islands at Penn and 39th and Penn and Fisk. Those islands will be on Penn across the intersections with hard posts and curbs to prevent motorists from making left turns from and onto 39th and Fisk streets.
On Main Street, crews will install traffic-calming devices known as chokers to narrow the roadway to encourage motorists to slow down and discourage parking on sidewalks, which blocks the view of pedestrians and can force them to walk on the street. Chokers are curb extensions from each side of the street that are used to create pinch points to slow drivers.
These locations were chosen because they scored poorly on the city’s new analysis of traffic data known as the High Injury Network. The analysis identifies intersections and other areas that have abnormally high crashes with injuries or deaths.
In this case, the analysis showed 20 crashes (one fatality and eight injuries) at Penn and Main, 16 crashes (no fatalities and six injuries) at Penn and Fisk, 10 crashes (one fatality and five injuries) at Penn and 39th, and eight crashes (no fatalities and two injuries) on Main Street between Penn and Butler Street.
This is the first phase of work in the corridor. Later this year, crews will create a mid-block crosswalk on Fisk Street near the Carnegie Library and connecting to a pedestrian path from 40th Street and improve Penn and Main with an updated intersection and signal layout.
The changes are part of the commitment the city made earlier this year to work toward no traffic fatalities.
“Change may be uncomfortable, but it is necessary to do what’s right for the city,” Mayor Ed Gainey said in a news release. “While some may view the Lawrenceville Safety Suite as an inconvenience, there is no doubt in my mind that it will save lives. Two lives were lost at these intersections, and it is my goal to ensure that never happens again.”
More details about the project are available on the city website.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.