Hazelwood is on the verge of opportunity. As one of Pittsburgh's oldest mill communities, it has lived the boom and bust of the defunct Jones & Laughlin Steel coke works.
Later known as the LTV site, the now-idle, 178-acre expanse is partially cleared and available for reuse. It has a master plan and a nonprofit partnership that's eager to find a developer to build housing, offices, stores and recreational facilities on the riverfront tract.
Though seven to 10 years off, the new neighborhood could spark recovery in the older Hazelwood, where development today is measured in small victories: a garden and gazebo here, a deli and laundromat there. To thrive, this residential section of the city needs a grand transformation of fortune that will improve safety, stabilize property values and attract new homeowners.
That is the promise of the mixed-use project being spearheaded by the partnership of four foundations and the Regional Industrial Development Corp. But there is the not-so-small matter of the approaching Mon-Fayette Expressway.
Launched more than a decade ago as an interstate toll road that would bring highway transportation to the Mon Valley, the $2 billion expressway will run 60 miles between West Virginia and Downtown Pittsburgh. About 35 miles of it are already complete from Route 51 in Jefferson Hills, south into Washington and Fayette counties.
The highway will pass through Hazelwood's former industrial site, and some residents believe it will compromise the new development. They couldn't be more mistaken.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which is building the road, has shown tremendous flexibility in trying to make it dovetail unobstrusively with the Hazelwood streetscape. For one thing, it is proposing to build the road below grade; for another, it will cover large sections of it in tunnel-like fashion, with potential neighborhood park space on top.
The turnpike could also help pay for relocating railroad tracks away from the Monongahela River -- a change that would beautify Hazelwood, yet bring no real benefit to the highway construction. Finally, the interchange planned near the Glenwood Bridge would be a plus for potential residents and businesses that want ready highway access.
In the end, Hazelwood would be helped, not hurt, by an expressway built with the neighborhood in mind. The turnpike will bend even more for citizens who seek consensus rather than confrontation.
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