[PRCo] Streetcars in the Strip District?

[Paul Steven]

So you guys are thinking of putting streetcars back in the Strip?

"Consultants wanted for streetcar plan

By Bill Vidonic
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, August 26, 2011

Pittsburgh is looking for consultants to help plan a streetcar system and 
other transportation improvements within the Strip District, which could 
include an incline connecting the Strip with the Hill District.

"I'm hoping this will be realistic as possible," said Becky Rodgers, executive 
director of Neighbors in The Strip. "Will everything that's in this study come 
out? You don't know, but it's a great starting point."

The city hopes to hire consultants by November. They will spend six months 
devising transportation plans and how to pay for them. City officials have 
said a streetcar system could cost at least $25 million.

Consultants will be paid up to $345,000 by the city and PennDOT through the 
Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative.

That planning work likely would tie into the bigger Allegheny Riverfront 
Vision plan. The city in February announced that project, which aims to 
reconnect the Strip District, Lawrenceville, Morningside and Highland Park to 
6.5 miles of redeveloped riverfront.

"We've seen a lot of positive movement recently in the Strip District," Mayor 
Luke Ravenstahl said in a prepared statement. "New transportation improvements 
will build on this momentum by providing residents with better transit options 
and more bike/pedestrian-friendly ways to get in and around the neighborhood."

The initiative is focusing on the Strip District between 11th and 40th 
streets, and possible improvements include the streetcar system, the incline, 
bikeway work along Penn Avenue and a new transit station for development along 
the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway at 21st Street.

The deadline for consultants to submit qualifications to the city's Planning 
Department is noon Sept. 23. The detailed qualification request is available 
at www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp."