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Study favors river tunnel to bring light rail to city's North Shore Proposal would weave center city together with convention center, stadiums Thursday, June 01, 2000 By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
An environmental impact study done for the Port Authority has come down on the side of building twin tunnels beneath the Allegheny River as the best way to extend the light-rail transit from Downtown to the North Shore and the two new stadiums.
The study estimates that the light-rail extension, starting at the Gateway station and traveling under Stanwix Street, along with a separate spur to an expanded David L. Lawrence Convention Center, can be operating by 2007 and built for $390 million.
Gateway Station to the North Shore
The Port Authority, which received copies of the 5-pound, 14-ounce document from its project consultant yesterday, will make them available for public review at seven locations, starting tomorrow, for the 45-day period mandated by the Federal Transit Administration. The plan is sure to be controversial.
A two-part public meeting on the draft environmental impact study, which also evaluates two alternative plans using a new bridge crossing the Allegheny on the eastern side of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, will be held at noon and 6 p.m. June 29 at Two Gateway Center, Downtown.
After the Port Authority's top management prepares responses to the public comments, the board of directors plans to vote on a final alignment -- probably at its July monthly meeting and probably in favor what's officially labeled the "Gateway Alternative."
"My personal choice is now more than personal," authority chief executive officer Paul Skoutelas said. "From our standpoint and the consultant's standpoint, we see clear, significant advantages to the Gateway alignment."
The light-rail extension has been the subject of discussions and evaluations by the Port Authority, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, city and county for at least 15 years.
Since then, North Shore development has burgeoned, including construction of two new stadiums, where an expanded light-rail system would transport an average of 4,000 people to and from Pirates games and 10,000 people to and from Steelers games.
The "T," using the Gateway alignment, would provide a direct, three-minute ride between Gateway Center Station and a new subway station to be built on the west side of PNC Park.
But other stations at Steelers Way and a planned "intermodal transportation center," a 1,700 parking garage for commuters and special events, would serve a variety of new venues and office space currently under discussion. The three stations also would be within walking distance of Allegheny Center and several North Side neighborhoods.
These are places the Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be available for public review and inspection starting tomorrow:
Twin 17-foot-diameter tunnels would be sunk and buried beneath the Allegheny River, with the bottom of each precast concrete tunnel resting up to 88 feet below the surface of the water.
Prepared by the Pittsburgh office of a national consulting firm, Frederic R. Harris Inc., the study was directed by Allen D. Biehler of Crafton, who left the Port Authority in early 1998 as head of engineering and construction.
It includes equally detailed evaluations of alternative alignments using a new bridge next to the convention center and parallel to the Fort Wayne railroad bridge, which is used by Norfolk Southern freight trains and Amtrak passenger trains.
Once across the river, one of the Fort Wayne bridge alignment proposals would travel at street level; the other, in a subway.
The study shows short-term effects caused by construction but no substantial long-term environmental effects for any of the three alternatives. However, some issues would have to be resolved on any alternative.
The Gateway alignment conflicts with plans to extend Martindale Street on the North Shore. Either the Port Authority or the Sports & Exhibition Authority, or both, will have to modify their plans.
Under either alternative using the Fort Wayne bridge alignment, part of 11th Street would have to be permanently closed, thereby shutting off access to the convention center truck loading dock and requiring a new dock as part of the expansion project.
The plan for the Gateway alignment calls for "cut-and-cover" excavation over two blocks of Stanwix Street to extend the subway north of the Gateway Center T Station and then tunneling under Fort Duquesne Boulevard and 10th Street Bypass to reach the river.
Some Gateway Center Station tracks and part of the station would be reconfigured. The existing platform would serve light-rail vehicles arriving from the North Shore. A new platform on the opposite side of the tracks would be for trains arriving from points south and leaving for the North Shore.
The study concludes that if public officials choose either alternative utilizing the Fort Wayne bridge alignment, not only would morning commuters have to transfer at Steel Plaza Station to go farther Downtown, but also, riders would have to wait twice as long for vehicles than under the Gateway alignment.
Total construction, right-of-way and vehicle purchase costs are estimated at $389.9 million for the preferred Gateway alignment; $306.6 million for the Fort Wayne bridge alignment with street-level service on the North Shore; and, $615.5 million for the Fort Wayne bridge alignment with subway service through the North Shore.
All three alternatives would end near the West End Bridge, although the two Fort Wayne bridge alignments call for construction of an extra station, at Anderson Street, to serve the Warhol Museum, the Alcoa headquarters and other North Shore sites around the northern end of the Ninth Street Bridge.
The Gateway alignment totals 1.6 miles of construction, including a subway station on the spur from Steel Plaza Station to the convention center. The subway station would also be in proximity to the Greyhound bus station, Amtrak station, Liberty Center and Pittsburgh Doubletree Hotel.
Several public officials, including state Sen. Jack Wagner, D-Beechview, have said they support the Fort Wayne bridge alignment, saying the expanded convention center would be underserved. "That's just not true," Skoutelas said.
Fort Wayne bridge alignments do not allow for a future extension to the Strip District because of geometric limitations, while the Gateway alignment does. The plan also provides for future extensions to the North Side and the Ohio Valley.
"We're pleased to have gotten the green light from the Federal Transit Administration to proceed with the formal process," Skoutelas said, although it took federal officials five months. "We think the [study] documentation is thorough. It accurately captures all of the technical and other data."
Port Authority officials and staff have already held more than 100 private and public meetings with property owners, neighborhood organizations and various officials over the past 11/2 years.
While the public review process is taking place on the draft environmental impact statement, the authority plans to ask the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the transportation planning agency for the eight-county area, to declare its support for the light-rail project.
Skoutelas said he's hopeful of winning formal approval from the federal transit agency to begin final design by the end of summer.
The authority board has agreed to pay $10.5 million to Harris Inc. to continue engineering on the project. The firm has already received $2.5 million for planning and preparation of the study.
Meanwhile, Skoutelas plans to meet with legislative, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, city, county and congressional representatives to try to line up the $390 million necessary for rights of way, new LRVs and construction.
The Federal Transit Administration will be asked to provide 50 percent. Most of the rest is expected to come from the state, through a combination of grants, highway funds reassigned to public transit and the capital improvement sources that the authority uses to finance bonds.
"The financing plan needs more discussion," Skoutelas said.
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Pittsburgh Department of Planning, 200 Ross St., Downtown.