The main goal of Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s University Line between Oakland and Downtown Pittsburgh is to provide an easier flow of public transit between two of the three largest economic centers in the state.
But there will be some residual benefits for pedestrians and other motorists, too.
This week, the agency will begin installing and activating traffic signals at 16 intersections on Fifth, Sixth and Liberty avenues. Those streets will be the main route buses of the new Bus Rapid Transit system will use as they pass through the Golden Triangle.
Overall, the intersections will have 35 new signals installed. The new signals will have buttons for pedestrians to request that the signal change to allow them to cross the street, illuminated countdowns showing how much time is left to cross, and audio announcements telling pedestrians which direction it is safe to cross.
“Let’s say they are upgrades to what is there, but they aren’t new to the city,” said PRT spokesman Adam Brandolph. “Many of these now just have standard, run-of-the-mill signals, so these will be better.”
Crews will start installing the new signals on Fifth Avenue between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, and each signal is expected to take one or two days, but the work shouldn’t cause significant traffic delays. The lights will be activated as they are installed.
Eight of the new signals will be on Fifth Avenue at Liberty Avenue; Market, Wood and Smithfield streets; William Penn Place; Grant and Ross streets; and Sixth Avenue. On Sixth Avenue, new signals will be at Centre Avenue; Ross and Grant streets; William Penn Place; Smithfield and Wood streets; and Liberty Avenue.
There also will be a new signal at Liberty Avenue and Seventh Street.
The streets with new traffic signals will have exclusive lanes for five bus routes on the $291 million University Line — 61A, B and C as well as 71B and P3. Buses will travel inbound from Oakland on Fifth Avenue, loop through Downtown and head outbound on Forbes Avenue.
Eventually, the five bus routes that will use the new lanes will have traffic light priority at all intersections, but the control center for that won’t be ready initially.
Independence Excavating Co. should have the five Downtown stations for the system ready next spring at Fifth Avenue and Ross Street, Fifth and William Penn Place, Fifth and Market Square, the Wood Street T Station on Liberty Avenue, and Steel Plaza at Sixth Avenue and Grant Street. Those stations are expected to be put in operation when all of them are completed.
About that time, construction should start on the second phase of the project through Uptown to Oakland. That section will include 18 stations, sidewalk and crosswalk improvements, bike lanes on Forbes, and new traffic lights throughout the neighborhoods.
The entire system should be finished in 2027.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.