Port Authority will take the first steps this week toward meeting one of the top priorities outlined in its long-range plan: improving service on the busy Route 837 corridor between McKeesport and Homestead.
The agency will hold virtual public meetings from noon-1:30 and 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday to outline preliminary plans and get feedback from residents about possible changes. Advanced registration is required at portauthority.org/HomesteadToMcKeesport
The authority’s NEXTransit plan, released in May, identified Route 837 corridor improvements as one of its top five projects, calling for priority lanes for buses at traffic signals, new bus shelters and street improvements around bus stops to improve safety.
The plan estimated the changes could cost $47 million to $58 million, one of the less expensive projects in the plan. Advocacy group Pittsburghers for Public Transit has long put a high priority on transit in the Monongahela Valley and is pushing hard for a large participation at the meetings.
“It certainly is an important corridor in our system and in Allegheny County,” authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said, noting that the P7, 53, 53L, 59 and 61C routes all pass through that area.
The agency has some preliminary ideas to present, Mr. Brandolph said, including improvements at specific intersections and bus stops. But it wants to hear from the public, too, he said.
“We want to make sure some of the thoughts we have are what the riders want,” he said. “The most important thing for us is to listen to our riders about what issues they see and want addressed.
“It’s not one of the larger, more difficult projects in the plan for sure. But it was identified as one of the more important projects, so we want to make sure we address it.”
Laura Wiens, executive director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit, said the group is happy the authority is moving ahead on corridor improvements, but it wants to make sure it takes the right steps. That area has particularly drawn PPT’s attention in the past four years since the authority initially proposed ending many bus routes from the Mon Valley in Oakland for riders to transfer to the Bus Rapid Transit system that will start construction next year for transport into Downtown Pittsburgh.
The group convinced Port Authority to change those plans and allow direct service to continue, citing the need for direct connections to the Golden Triangle for residents of the county’s poorest communities. The group also lobbied hard for the Route 837 improvements and extension of the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway from Rankin to East Pittsburgh to be key parts of NEXTransit.
“[Route 837 improvements] can be transformational in that corridor,” Ms. Wiens said. “We should make this project as impactful as it can be.”
Many of the communities have a high number of low-income families, Ms. Wiens said, but a large number of residents in places such as Homestead (40.2%) and Duquesne (24.3%) rely on transit to get to work.
One area where Ms. Wiens would like to see the authority sharpen its focus is transit-oriented development, the type of housing and commercial development that attracts commuters who use transit. The authority doesn’t own much property around its bus stops like it does around light rail stations, she said, but it could work with local officials to improve development in those communities.
Also, it’s important to improve sidewalks and other amenities around bus stops, some of which Ms. Wiens said are located between a highway and a cliff. Eliminating some of those stops, which Ms. Wiens expects the authority to recommend, wouldn’t really help because it would make residents walk farther on structurally unsafe streets to get to another stop.
“We don’t want people walking an extra quarter-mile to get to a new stop,” she said. “Increasing time walking so the bus can be faster really doesn’t help the rider.”
Mr. Brandolph said the authority expects to hold follow-up meetings in January or February. The agency doesn’t have a time frame to begin work in the corridor because that would depend on funding.
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.
First Published: December 6, 2021, 3:41 p.m.
