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Grata's Guide: When will you pave the other half of our South Side street?
Sunday, June 06, 1999 By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Grata Guide gets letters and lots of e-mail, too. Even writers from the PG write to us. We'll share.
Pothole inquiry: Irene Majewski is a disgruntled South Side resident, complaining one side of South 21st Street was paved three or four years ago but the other side wasn't, although the city street is part of a busy escape route for East Carson Street traffic.
"This pothole heaven has been here for years, but they have a nice, smooth side of the street," Majewski said of her neighbors. "We pay taxes on this side of the street, the same as on the other side."
Response: I'm faxing the letter from Majewski to Kraszewski -- Ralph Kraszewski, city Public Works director. He and Mayor Murphy need to see how the other half lives.
Bridges inquiry: Mary Abu-Shumays of Whitehall, who drives to Oakland regularly, wants to know when Schenley Park Bridge repairs will be finished and when Glenwood Bridge repairs will begin.
Response: The strategy of transportation construction in the Pittsburgh region is designed to disrupt lives in perpetuity.
The $4.1 million renovation of the Schenley Park Bridge over Panther Hollow, next to Phipps Conservatory, is to be finished and the bridge reopened no later than Sept. 10. A $14 million repair project will shut down the Glenwood Bridge for six months starting in February, if the deck doesn't drop into the Mon River before then.
Holy Moses: Ann Rodgers-Melnick, the PG's religion writer, has two pet peeves. She thinks traffic flow would be helped (1) by allowing a "right turn on red" from East Carson Street onto the Smithfield Street Bridge and (2) by discouraging traffic coming from the Parkway East onto the Fort Pitt Bridge to shift to the far-left lane, alleviating the conflict with vehicles entering the bridge from Stanwix Street.
"This further backs up traffic and contributes to many accidents, near-accidents and incidents of road rage. I consider it the most hazardous spot in town."
Response: Stick to the religion beat. You're messing with people bigger than God.
Inquisitive newcomer: John Gotaskie is happy to see this column in the PG, because he misses his weekly fix of "Dr. Gridlock" in the Washington Post since moving to Wilkinsburg. Gotaskie wonders why PennDOT doesn't mow the grass along the Parkway East, why Port Authority bus drivers are rude and why the Pennsylvania Turnpike doesn't have EZ-Pass for commuters, or at least an "exact change" lane at major toll plazas.
Response: Whew! For a newcomer, you're asking for a lot. What do you expect those people from three different public transportation agencies to do? Give us a reputation for cleanliness, friendliness and speediness, too?
Greater expectations: Phil Jamison of Ben Avon wants to know, "What's up with this?" after seeing that nobody has cut the weeds or cleaned the medians around Three Rivers Stadium and roads that lead there for at least two years now.
Response: PennDOT owns $50,000 "sweeper trucks" whose operators have been doing a better job in recent years. PennDOT doesn't own many $20 push brooms.
Mechanical sweepers can't reach traffic islands and under ramps where garbage, gravel, dirt and dust have piled up for years. And $50,000 mower-equipped tractors can't always reach the annoying high grass that $200 lawn mowers can.
You want a really good example of filth? The next time you're stuck or slowed up at the south end of the Liberty Tunnels, take a gander at 22,000 cigarette butts and other debris outside the office where PennDOT tunnel workers are on duty. The workers need to get their butts out.
Plate du jour. IM VERT. In French, "vert" means green, and this license plate belongs to Bill Green, of the Downtown consulting firm William J. Green & Associates.
Trivia. The American Public Transit Association has named 1999 Bus Safety Award winners for transit systems with more than 600 buses. I'm able to report that Port Authority wasn't one of the winners. Neither was anyone else from the United States. Who won, eh? All Canadians: Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto.
Send your transportation questions, complaints and suggestions to Joe Grata, c/o The Post-Gazette, or e-mail him at jgrata@post-gazette.com. Include address and phone number.
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