A week after a student group complained about traffic conditions on the University of Pittsburgh’s upper campus, Pittsburgh announced Thursday it will make a series of changes to improve safety.
The changes will be at the intersection of Darragh and Terrace streets, where there have been two fatal pedestrian crashes in the past year, and other nearby streets. The changes will include eliminating turns on red and giving pedestrians more time to cross the street.
The city’s Fatal Crash Response Team, established in March as part of the Vision Zero effort to eliminate traffic deaths, visited the crash scene Wednesday morning, said Jacob Williams, spokesman for the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure. The team, which includes the police department’s Collision Investigation Unit, made a series of recommendations.
At Terrace and Darragh, traffic signals will be changed from flashing during overnight hours to full operation all day, no turns on red will be allowed from any of the four directions, and signals will be adjusted to allow pedestrians three more seconds to cross the street when the signal changes. Right now, the light changes from red to green as soon as the walk signal changes.
The “no turn on red” signs already have been installed and other changes should be made in the next month, Williams said.
On nearby streets, pedestrians will be given extra time to cross at O’Hara and DeSoto streets and no turn on red signs have been installed. At Allequipa and Darragh, pedestrians will have three extra seconds to cross the street.
The changes come after Complete Streets at Pitt called for improvements following the Dec. 5 crash in which Jessie Maroney, 37, was killed when she was struck by a box truck as she walked in the crosswalk at Darragh and Terrace streets.
The group called for the city and university to take action to stop what it called “vehicular violence” that has resulted in four pedestrian deaths since 2019. The area has heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic because Pitt’s School of Medicine, UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and the Petersen Events Center are nearby.
Williams said the quick response by the city is a positive step.
“We couldn’t be happier about how Vision Zero has been operating so far,” he said.
The city will continue to work with Pitt to monitor traffic on campus and recommend changes when problems are identified.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.