Group ready to move forward with plan to preserve Allegheny River Boulevard

The Allegheny River Boulevard Preservation Association now has a road map – pun intended – for returning the highway to at least some of its former glory when it opened in the 1930s.

The association last week released a site management plan developed by Landmarks SGA that outlines the steps the volunteer group needs to take to restore the two-lane, 6-mile road. The highway runs from Washington Boulevard near the Highland Park Bridge in Pittsburgh through Penn Hills and Verona to Hulton Road in Oakmont.

But it should be no normal highway.

Built under the Works Progress Administration as part of the federal City Beautiful program, it was designed with three scenic lookouts along the Allegheny – one in Pittsburgh and two in Penn Hills. But through decades of neglect, the outlooks have deteriorated and been closed for about 40 years, and the summertime river views are mostly blocked by invasive vines and trees that in many areas have taken over for the London planes planted when the highway opened.

The ARBPA started two years ago with the goal of preserving the area, which meets qualifications for designation as a historic site. The management plan, paid for through a series of grants by state and local agencies, is a necessary first step in what is expected to be an extended effort because it will help the group get funds to pay for projects, said association Chairman Rick Duncan.

The 69-page management plan was designed to assess current conditions and propose “a meaningful, practical and implementable outline of steps towards the management, preservation, maintenance and improvement of the significant resources” the highway still has to offer. Rather than estimating the time and cost of various steps, the consultant categorized them based on their need, benefit and difficulty to accomplish.

“That’s all it was meant to be was a roadmap for what needs to be done,” Duncan said.

Early steps include developing a vegetation management plan, stabilizing the three lookouts, creating a volunteer network to clear litter and debris from the sides of the roadway, and completing the processes for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and designation as a “scenic highway.” Longer-term goals would be replacing original granite curbs where needed, rehabilitating the outlooks so they might be reopened on a limited basis, and clearing areas around them for better views of the river.

The five-member board agreed to pursue the early steps over the next year, beginning with the overlook stabilization and vegetation management plan.

Stabilization is a big-ticket item because the group would have to hire an engineering firm and contractors certified in historic preservation just to keep the overlooks from becoming unfixable.

None of them are in good shape, but the first on the land side of the road between Washington Boulevard and Nadine Road is in the worst condition. Pittsburgh Public Works and Forestry crews have done work in recent months to remove trees and invasive vines that were growing through the flat stone overlook, but far more work needs to be done, Duncan said.

“[Stabilizing the outlooks] is not low-hanging fruit. That’s a big one,” he said. “Our concern today is that if we don’t do what we can to stabilize them they will fall down. We don’t want turnout 1 to be a pile of rocks by the time we get to it years down the road.”

For vegetation management, Duncan said his group will rely on expertise from the Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission, where he is vice president. That group will develop a formal plan while Duncan and other volunteers continue work to clear what they can and encourage the municipalities along the corridor to help improve the views of the river.

Many of the London planes are in good condition – “They’re only about 90 years old,” pretty young for that species, Duncan said – but they have been surrounded by knotweed, bittersweet and grapevine. Some invasives have been there for decades and are “as thick as your leg,” so it will take a lot of labor-intensive work to kill them.

For now, small teams of volunteers will continue to hack away at them.

Because the roadway is a busy corridor, Duncan said, the group has to be careful with the volunteers it allows to work there. Formal groups have adopted each end of the highway for litter cleanup, but it still needs a group for the middle section between Sandy Creek Road and the River Town Shopping Center in Verona, an area Duncan described as “filthy.”

The state House approved designation as a scenic highway last year, but the Senate never acted. That could be introduced again this year.

One very positive action that could influence what happens with the boulevard occurred last week when Allegheny County announced it has completed the purchase of 3.1 miles of the former Brilliant Branch rail line, which crosses the Allegheny from Aspinwall at a bridge then ends at the boulevard. The county plans to develop plans for a trail there over the next five years, and Duncan has visions of that project including a spur trail up the boulevard to the first lookout.

Overall, Duncan said he has no illusions about the long-term nature of restoring the boulevard.

“It’s not because I’m going to benefit from this,” said Duncan, a retired archaeologist. “But, hopefully, it’s something that people are going to see and say, ‘Gee, they saved this for us.’”