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North Shore light-rail plans seem to favor sports fans
Port Authority of Allegheny County representatives yesterday unveiled to the commission the design of four new stations on extensions of the T light-rail system from the Steel Plaza Station to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and from the Gateway Station to the North Side.
The two North Side stations, called Allegheny and North Side, have entrances facing PNC Park and Heinz Field.
The commission told Port Authority officials to seek more input from neighborhood groups, go back to the drawing board and return for a public hearing in a month.
The Allegheny Station would be a ground-level plaza on Allegheny Avenue at Reedsdale Street by Heinz Field. The regular entrance would be along Allegheny Avenue and a special, game-day-only entrance would accommodate Steeler fans along Reedsdale.
The North Side Station would be next to PNC Park. It would have a single entrance along West General Robinson Street, adjacent to a garage planned by the Sports and Exhibition Authority. The station also would have two emergency exits along Reedsdale Street. The commissioners asked if one of the emergency exits could become a public entrance that faces the neighborhoods.
"This is not just for the PNC park," said Tom Armstrong, planning commission chairman. "This is for the vast residential area. ... We have a lot of stakeholders. We need to balance their needs."
A Reedsdale-side entry, he said, would provide more convenient access to riders from Allegheny West and Central North Side.
Henry Nutbrown, Port Authority's assistant general manager, said the money isn't available.
The North Shore Connector would run under the Allegheny River. An initial round of construction bids put the cost of the underwater tunnel at $87.8 million. Last week, the Port Authority sought a new round of bids to shave costs.
Construction of the stations is estimated at $25 million apiece.
Commissioners also asked transit officials to consider expanding the use of Allegheny Station's game-day-only entrance to cater to Carnegie Science Center visitors.
The commissioners did not comment about designs to expand the station at Gateway Center and to create a new station at the convention center.
In other businesses, the commission approved the conversion of the Standard Life building Downtown into 33 two-bedroom units. The 13-story building will retain commercial space on the first and second floors. The new housing units likely will be occupied by students, said architect Ken Kulak, who represented developer McHolme Brothers at yesterday's meeting.
The commission also tabled a zoning change that would allow a Walgreen's at Braddock and Penn avenues in Point Breeze, and urged the developer to address concerns of neighbors, who fear the store would be too close to homes.
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