Chapter VI: Part II: Main Thoroughfares (2)

3. _Thirty-third Street Improvement._--At Thirty-third Street on Liberty Avenue there is a railroad grade crossing. The street should be lifted over the tracks and the filling extended west to Thirty-first Street and east to Thirty-seventh Street; in this way the gradient of the steep portion of the Lawrenceville hill can be reduced from 5.6 per cent to 4 per cent, which is the present gradient on the rest of the hill. (Diagram No. 1.) An easy connection should be made with the Penn Avenue artery at about Thirty-first Street. (Diagram No. 2.) With these changes the Penn-Liberty line would provide a thoroughfare from the down town district to the East End with a 4 per cent maximum gradient, which is easier than can be reasonably obtained on any other line. The northern end of the Thirty-third Street bridge and the west end of Ligonier Streets should be raised to meet the new grade of Liberty Avenue; the bridge will then be about level, and Ligonier Street will slope between 6 and 7 per cent down to Thirty-fourth Street.

4. _Sassafras Street Outlet._--Raising the grade on Liberty Avenue will seriously interfere with the western outlet of Sassafras Street. But if this street becomes of sufficient importance--and its location in the valley close to the railroads suggests a considerable development of its frontage for freight houses, warehouses or manufacturing--it will be simple and satisfactory to bring the western outlet to the junction of Penn Avenue and Butler Street by means of a short tunnel under Thirty-fourth Street from the south side of Liberty Avenue to the northwest side of Ligonier Street.

5. _Penn-Liberty Connection at Howley Street._--A connection northeast from the junction of Liberty Avenue and Main Street to Penn Avenue will be needed. (Diagram No. 3). This can be secured by widening and extending Howley Street. Thereby traffic bound for the Garfield District and east thereof can climb the Lawrenceville hill by the comparatively easy gradient (4 per cent) on Liberty Avenue, avoiding the steeper hill (about 5 per cent) on Penn Avenue. This will also connect with the proposed Bloomfield bridge to Grant Boulevard.

6. _Forty-third Street Bridge._--Butler Street is the main extension of the Penn Avenue artery up the Allegheny River, and its first branch thoroughfare is at Forty-third Street. The Forty-third Street bridge, like the one at Sixteenth Street, must soon be rebuilt.[13] This bridge connects Millvale and large sections of Shaler and Ross townships with the Point District via the Penn Avenue artery. The new bridge should be of ample width and should be high enough so that the approaches can be carried over the railroad tracks at either end.

7. _Sharpsburg Bridge._--The Sharpsburg bridge is the next important branch of the Butler Street thoroughfare. It forms the most direct connection from Pittsburgh proper to the boroughs of Sharpsburg and Etna and to large portions of Shaler and O'Hara townships. The bridge should be widened--the present roadway being only 21 feet including car tracks--and the northern approaches should be improved. (Sections 60 and 61 following.)

8. _Butler Street Improvement._--From a point nearly opposite the western end of Baker Street east to Haights Run, there is no property of value for manufacturing, or for dwellings, or stores, between Butler Street and the railroad which runs below it on the river bank. The same is true east of Haights Run as far as the Brilliant pumping station or the present beginning of Beechwood Boulevard. It seems very desirable that these portions of Butler Street, instead of being widened merely enough for traffic accommodation, be developed as a picturesque riverside parkway--a fitting approach to Highland Park and a continuation of Beechwood Boulevard. This involves the control of the narrow strip of property between Butler Street and the railroad; though occasional houses might be allowed to remain therein without detriment to the effect as a whole. The Bureau of Parks is working along these general lines, and has already bought many parcels of the land north of Highland Park between Butler Street and the railroad.

9. _Haights Run Bridge._--The present Butler Street bridge over Haights Run is of light construction and has a total width of only 17 feet; this should be rebuilt of ample strength and capacity.

10. _The Aspinwall Bridge._--The Aspinwall bridge, crossing the river at Six Mile Island from Butler Street to the eastern portion of Sharpsburg, is narrow (36 feet over all) and is of light construction. It is so important that it will some day need to be rebuilt of ample width and strength for main thoroughfare use. At its southern end it connects (1) with the Butler Street thoroughfare, of which it forms the northeastern extension, and (2) with a proposed cross-town line (Section 25 following) up the Haights Run Valley to East Liberty. On the north it connects directly with Guyasuta and Aspinwall, with most of the country in O'Hara township, and with the Freeport Road leading to Claremont, Montrose, Oakmont and all points up the Allegheny River. This Freeport Road is destined to become _the_ main thoroughfare up the Allegheny because the precipitous character of the south bank of the river, and the consequent almost total absence of land suited to residential or commercial development between Highland Park and Verona, make the direct extension of Butler Street, as a riverside thoroughfare, both expensive and impracticable.

11. _Forbes Street--Fifth Avenue Connection at Soho._--At Soho the connection between the Forbes Street artery and Fifth Avenue--the principal thoroughfare to Bellefield and all points to the east thereof--is most simply accomplished by splitting the Forbes Street artery at Seneca Street into two levels, the upper, on the north side, running on nearly a straight line and gradient to Fifth Avenue, joining it just west of the school house. (Diagram No. 4.) The lower portion would become the continuation of Forbes Street, and should be raised at Brady Street about 17 feet, or so much that the gradient on Brady Street, up from Forbes Street under the proposed high-level street to Fifth Avenue, will not be over 6 or 7 per cent. A good gradient will still be possible on the approach from Forbes Street to the Twenty-second Street bridge; and the Forbes Street gradient, down from Seneca Street, will be much reduced. These changes will greatly improve the means of access to the Twenty-second Street bridge.

On Forbes Street, just west of Craft Avenue, there is a bad gradient for a main thoroughfare (about 6½ per cent) which is not easy to improve; but the above cross connection at Brady Street will give a through line to the East End via the Forbes Street artery and Fifth Avenue, with a maximum gradient of about 4½ per cent (on the Soho hill).

12. _Fifth Avenue--Center Avenue Connection at Soho._--As a main thoroughfare feeding Minersville and the northern part of the Hill District, either from the South Side via the Twenty-second Street bridge, or from the Point District via Fifth Avenue or Forbes Street, a connection is needed on a reasonable gradient from Fifth Avenue to Center Avenue through the valley south of Soho hill. Such a street (Diagram No. 5) could leave Fifth Avenue at Jumonville Street, start along the location of Wyandotte Street, then curve around the nose of the hill and follow the hillside on the west of the valley; thus, by cutting away some of the recent filling at the upper end of the valley, it could reach Center Avenue at the corner of Soho Street with a uniform gradient of about 3 per cent. At present there is no way of reaching this high land on a gradient less than 7 per cent.

The new street shown on the diagram is preferred to the improvement and extension of Moultrie Street because (1) it gives a better gradient, (2) it is a more direct approach from the down town district, and (3) it leaves the bottom of the valley available for enlarging the Moultrie Street playground.[14]

13. _Ellsworth Avenue Extension._--As Fifth Avenue is the principal thoroughfare to Bellefield, so Ellsworth Avenue becomes its main branch or extension from Bellefield to East Liberty. This street should not end at Neville Street, as at present, but should be extended to the corner of Craig Street and Fifth Avenue. (Diagram No. 6.)

14. _Monongahela Hillside Thoroughfare._--The thoroughfare requirements from the Forbes Street artery up the Monongahela River can best be met by a hillside street, partly new and partly following existing streets, running substantially parallel to Second Avenue but along the hillside above the railroad tracks. This thoroughfare would leave Forbes Street at the bend about 1200 feet east of Brady Street, cross the little valley (which should be filled north of the new street) and extend eastward, crossing Bates Run on a viaduct, and using, where possible, parts of Lawn and Frazier Streets, to the mouth of Four Mile Run. Thence, by another viaduct, it would connect with Sylvan Avenue, on the north side of the valley, and follow this street widened to Hazelwood Avenue; by another viaduct it would cross the Flowers Avenue valley to Glenwood Avenue and follow the latter widened and partially regraded to Mansion Street. There it would bend to the northeast, cut through the plateau land to the next ravine, cross this on a viaduct and, bending southward again, descend around the nose of the hill to the Glenwood bridge. So easy a gradient can be obtained on this new street that it may reasonably be expected to carry nearly all the through traffic. With proper connections (the most important of which are described below), it will also take most of the travel to and from the residential districts lying above it to the northeast.

The location of this street, high on the hillside above the Monongahela River, presents unusual opportunities incidental to serving its primary purpose as a main thoroughfare. With an ample roadway for all kinds of traffic, with trees for shade and decoration, with a broad promenade overlooking the river and the hills to the south, it would furnish rare and much-needed facilities for recreation; and, further, it would have a distinctive character most appropriate to the rugged topography of the Pittsburgh District. (Diagram No. 7.)

15. _Bates Run Connection._--Starting from the western end of this new street, the first important transverse street connection would be at Bates Run. Here a street should be run up the east side of the valley, not far from the present location of Romeo Street, to the intersection of Wilmot and Bates Streets, thus reaching the Oakland District.

16. _Greenfield Avenue Connection._--On the southeast side of Four Mile Run the new thoroughfare will pass over Greenfield Avenue. But a connection should be made therewith by running a practically level street, from about the junction point of Sylvan Avenue and the new thoroughfare, northeast along the hillside adjacent to Greenfield Avenue until it meets the Greenfield Avenue grade.

17. _Greenfield and Squirrel Hill Extension._--From this point on Greenfield Avenue a new street should be built running to the northeast. It would cross the first little ravine on a viaduct, thence follow the south bank of the Four Mile Run valley, climbing at a uniform gradient, and join Beechwood Boulevard at the southern end of the bridge into Schenley Park. This will furnish a direct connection from the new hillside thoroughfare to the eastern portion of the Greenfield District and to Squirrel Hill; the maximum gradient will be only about 3½ per cent instead of about 7 per cent as at present on Greenfield Avenue.

This new street could be extended, from the point where it joins the boulevard, underneath the Greenfield Avenue viaduct, along the side of the valley to the south and up to the higher portions of the Greenfield District. The gradient of such a street need not exceed 5 per cent.

18. _Hazelwood Grade Crossing._--Although the construction of the hillside thoroughfare (Section 14 above) does away with the necessity for widening Second Avenue east of the Tenth Street bridge, Second Avenue is still an important main line, and all feasible improvements should be made thereon. One of these is the elimination of the grade crossing at Hazelwood, and here Second Avenue should probably be carried under the tracks.

19. _Glenwood Bridge._--The Glenwood bridge becomes a most important link in the thoroughfare system; it connects Second Avenue and the proposed hillside line at one end, with Eighth Avenue in West Homestead and with the mouth of Streets Run at the other. Eighth Avenue leads up the Monongahela to Homestead, Munhall, Rankin, Braddock, Bessemer, Duquesne and McKeesport; Streets Run is the starting point of several important thoroughfare lines into the country south and east. One of these thoroughfares will undoubtedly be a main line from the city proper to Dravosburg and points above on the Monongahela River. The bridge should certainly be widened and the gradients of the approaches improved, especially that from Second Avenue.

20. _Baum Street Improvement._--Grant Boulevard will always be an important line to the East End, especially for fast-moving travel. To improve its outlet eastward from Herron Hill, Baum Street and South Atlantic Avenue should be connected and extended west to Craig Street. The connection between the two streets is easily made by cutting through the corner between Liberty Avenue and Rebecca Street, leaving a small triangular park. The extension of South Atlantic Avenue will require a bridge over the Pennsylvania Railroad just east of Morewood Avenue, a bridge over the Baltimore & Ohio tracks, and the grading and paving of the street already located west to Melwood Avenue and Craig Street.[15]

At its eastern end the outlet into Penn Avenue should be improved by widening Whitfield Street on the east side and by rounding back the corner of Baum Street and South Highland Avenue.

21. _Center Avenue Improvement._--The junction of Center, Ellsworth and South Highland Avenues at East Liberty is certain to become a congested point and to require more ample outlet into Penn Avenue. Several possible solutions have been considered, but the simplest plan, and probably in the end the most economical and satisfactory, is to widen Center Avenue on the south side from South Highland Avenue to Penn Avenue, cutting off the jog at the latter end. This improvement will give ample connection with Penn Avenue and the more important streets radiating from East Liberty. (Diagram No. 9.)

22. _Hamilton Avenue Extension._--The proposed extension of Hamilton Avenue from Fifth Avenue west to Penn Avenue is certainly desirable. The western end, however, should not be located adjacent to the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks (as planned by the Bureau of Surveys) but should join Frankstown Avenue at Station Street. (Diagram No. 9.) This location provides a more economical arrangement of streets and lots because it avoids (1) constructing a main thoroughfare with business frontage on only one side, and (2) leaving a building block only 100 feet in total depth between two main streets. The plan necessitates widening Frankstown Avenue, but this street is an important thoroughfare much in need of widening on its own account and a few additional feet to accommodate Hamilton Avenue traffic will not materially affect the cost.

At its eastern end the Hamilton Avenue extension should connect more directly with Kelly Street. This connection can be secured by widening and constructing Kelly Street, as located, from Fifth Avenue to Julius Street, and from there building a short diagonal to Hamilton Avenue. (Diagram No. 8.)

23. _Negley Run Boulevard._--East Liberty is so important a junction point of main thoroughfares, a distributing point as it were, that good connections to all localities are important. One of these is a boulevard, or street, chiefly for pleasure vehicles, down Negley Run to Beechwood Boulevard. It could practically follow the lines of Princeton Place and Butler Street. By widening and regrading these streets and by acquiring and controlling the ravine and its banks a very attractive boulevard may easily be secured. Incidentally an extremely unattractive and undesirable Negro and Italian settlement, in this valley, will be cleared out.

24. _Larimer Avenue Extension._--Princeton Place, or the boulevard just proposed, and Larimer Avenue, a thoroughfare leading into the Lincoln District, both dead-end at Broad Street. A connection for both should be made through to Penn Avenue. (Diagram No. 9.)

When this change is made and Frankstown Avenue is widened (Section 22) the eastern corner of Frankstown and Penn Avenue should be cut back to aid general traffic circulation.

25. _Haights Run Thoroughfare._--Another connection to be desired is from the East Liberty center to the Aspinwall bridge. The needed link is from Stanton Avenue to Butler Street. Following Haights Avenue for two blocks the new street should extend down the west bank of the Haights Run valley, with a maximum gradient of about 3½ per cent, to Butler Street. This new street would be used for both business and pleasure traffic, and its location on the steep side of a beautiful valley, much of which is already park land, will greatly enhance its value as a pleasure drive.[16] West frontage on this street, where the bank is not too high for use, will have a peculiar value for residential purposes owing to the permanence and beauty of an unobstructed outlook toward the park.

A branch connection might easily be secured (at a somewhat steeper gradient) between this new street and the table land of the Morningside District by winding up the side of the branch valley and joining Chislett Street four or five hundred feet south of Martha Street.

26. _Meadow Street Connections._--Stanton Avenue is already an important thoroughfare feeding the high sections of Morningside and cross-connecting many radial streets especially in the Highland Park District. Meadow Street is its logical extension to the southeast, and by an approach from Stanton Avenue to the new Meadow Street bridge over Negley Run these two streets can and should be connected. It is understood that this connection is already being made.

Unfortunately on the east Meadow Street comes almost to a dead-end a block or so before reaching the junction of Frankstown and Fifth Avenues. Owing to the location of the Pittsburgh Hospital, the direct extension of Meadow Street is impracticable and the outlet to Frankstown Avenue can best be secured by widening Finley Street.

27. _Stanton Avenue Connection to the Lincoln District._--A viaduct should be built from Stanton Avenue, at substantially the point where it enters Highland Park, running over Beechwood Boulevard and the Brillant Cutoff tracks to that portion of Highland Park lying east of the railroad and now practically unused because of its inaccessibility.

Furthermore, if it shall be possible to acquire a considerable portion of the Highland Cemetery property (still vacant) for residential or other taxpaying use, or if simply a right-of-way can be secured through the cemetery property, a combined thoroughfare and boulevard should be built from the viaduct above proposed, running about as shown on the map and connecting with Lincoln Avenue at the top of the hill. By this line the steep gradients on Lincoln Avenue can be avoided and the high country to the east reached on a gradient of not over 4¾ per cent.

28. _Beechwood Boulevard Connection._--Chiefly for pleasure traffic more street accommodation is needed between the ends of Beechwood Boulevard, at Frankstown Avenue and at Fifth Avenue. As the Pennsylvania Railroad freight yards practically prevent linking the ends of the Boulevard by a new street west of Fifth Avenue, the best plan would be to widen Fifth Avenue, from boulevard to boulevard, enough for two roadways, one for pleasure vehicles and the other for business traffic. (Diagram No. 10.) The west roadway would be best suited for pleasure travel because more than half of the west frontage is occupied by freight yards requiring access at only one or two fixed points.

29. _Boundary Street Improvement._--The plan to relocate and lower the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks in Junction Hollow and to construct a cross-town thoroughfare on the present railroad site, is advantageous to all concerned and, it is hoped, will soon be carried out. The new street (Boundary Street relocated), at its southern end, should connect both with Second Avenue and the proposed hillside thoroughfare (Section 14); with the former by following the present line of Forward Avenue south to Greenfield Avenue, and with the latter by going over the Baltimore & Ohio tracks just north of the present Sylvan Avenue viaduct, and extending west along the bank up to the new hillside street. At its northern end the new Boundary Street would bend to the east, after passing under Forbes Street, and, following the side of the ravine to get an easy gradient, curve westward again and join Fifth Avenue at Clyde Street. A branch to the west could connect with Boquet Street at Joncaire and with Forbes Street at the Schenley Park entrance. (See Bellefield Improvement, Plans A and B, Part IV, pages 102 to 104.)

The new Boundary Street line should further be extended from Clyde Street north to Millvale Avenue at Center Avenue. This will give a continuous cross-town thoroughfare--the first one on a good gradient east of the down town district--from Second Avenue on the south to Penn Avenue on the north, tapping, en route, practically all the radial thoroughfares in the East End.

30. _Murray Avenue Extension._--Murray Avenue, in Squirrel Hill, is of secondary importance as a thoroughfare, owing to its steep gradients: but its usefulness can and should be increased by extending the street south along the line of the street railway from Forward Avenue, over Beechwood Boulevard on a viaduct or bridge, to Hazelwood Avenue.

Practically as a continuation of this line and of the Boulevard, the present roadway to Brown's bridge, now maintained by the Street Railways Company, should be widened and improved as a city street.

31. _Beechwood Boulevard Re-alignment._--Beechwood Boulevard at Monitor Street makes two uncomfortably sharp bends to skirt a ravine. The ravine should be filled out two or three hundred feet from the upper end, and the Boulevard should be carried across on an easy curve at the eastern edge of the fill.

32. _Second Avenue Extension._--From the Glenwood bridge to the mouth of Nine Mile Run, the old location of Second Avenue, between the Baltimore & Ohio tracks and the river, presents a first-rate opportunity for a riverside street or boulevard. There are practically no buildings or industries requiring river frontage for commercial purposes, and yet there is sufficient room for a riverside thoroughfare of ample width without encroaching too much upon the flood section of the river. In a city where rivers play so vital a part in the commercial development, and form a most telling and characteristic element in the landscape, every opportunity should be seized to enjoy as well as utilize them.

To be well above a maximum flood line, a boulevard along the water's edge would have to be nearly as high as the railroad grade; but to avoid the large cost for river walls and filling, which such a construction would imply, the road could be built at a level only rarely flooded without sacrificing an appreciable amount of its essential value for recreative purposes. At its southern end it would rise over the Baltimore & Ohio tracks, a short distance east of the Glenwood bridge, to connect with the proposed hillside thoroughfare (Section 14); and at its northern end it would rise to connect with Brown's bridge, and from there could extend into the Nine Mile Run valley. A parallel location for this street, on the hillside above the railroad, has been suggested and carefully considered; but it is believed that, owing to the large amount of retaining wall required, the cost of construction would be almost, if not fully, as great as in the other location, and, other things being equal, it is a very real disadvantage to have a railroad between the river and a road which would otherwise have so much value as a pleasure drive. In either location, however, this street would form an attractive and important link in a hoped-for park and parkway development.[17]

33. _Batavia Street._--Frankstown Road is the principal thoroughfare feeding large portions of Penn township and country to the east. The importance of this line means inevitably the concentration of much traffic at the junction of Frankstown Avenue and Oakwood Street where the Frankstown Road begins. Some relief can and should be afforded by improving portions of Batavia Street and extending it to Frankstown Road at Blackadore Avenue. Batavia Street should also be extended across Oakwood Street to Kelly Street, thus encouraging the use of the latter as an approach to the Frankstown Road thoroughfare.

34. _Wilkinsburg Grade Crossings._--In Wilkinsburg three important streets,--Rebecca Avenue, South Avenue and Penn Avenue,--cross the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks at grade. Although plans for separating these grades must depend on the general plan of the Railroad for improvements in this region, it seems that the best solution, both for the Railroad and for the people, will probably be to raise the tracks as much as possible and to carry them over the streets. It is supposed that a plan to raise their tracks is now under consideration by the Railroad.

35. _Wilkinsburg-Edgewood Connection._--Improved thoroughfare connections from Wilkinsburg through Edgewood to Swissvale, Rankin and beyond are much needed. Pennwood and Edgewood Avenues offer perhaps the most promising route. By sufficiently widening the former from Hampton Avenue to Hutchinson Avenue it can be divided, the east half remaining as at present, and the west half rising gradually to an overhead railroad crossing at Hutchinson Avenue. East of the tracks the street would descend gradually to the south over Race Street to the junction of Swissvale and Edgewood Avenues, forming practically an extension of the latter.

Pennwood Avenue should also be extended along the railroad from Rebecca Avenue to Penn Avenue. If possible, the small freight yard now in the way should be removed, perhaps to the other side of Penn Avenue, but if this proves to be impracticable it will not be unreasonably indirect to carry Pennwood Avenue around and simply cut back the southerly corner of the freight yard.

36. _Braddock Avenue--Northerly End._--Braddock Avenue should be an important thoroughfare, cross-town from Frankstown Avenue to Forbes Street, and radial from Forbes Street southeast. North of Penn Avenue it is only located; this portion should be constructed and the railroad grade crossing eliminated.

37. _Braddock Avenue Viaduct._--To avoid the two, long, bad gradients on Braddock Avenue, crossing the Nine Mile Run valley, a diagonal connection should be made from Henrietta Street and Braddock Avenue to Hutchinson and Laclaire Streets. From the southern end of Laclaire Street a viaduct should be built across the valley, and connections should be made to South Braddock Avenue at the top of the hill and to Monongahela Street at Euclaire Street.

38. _Rankin Improvement._--Miller Avenue and Fifth Avenue extension continue the Monongahela Street thoroughfare in Rankin. The sharp cramped corners at Harriet Street should be eliminated by cutting a diagonal from Miller Avenue at Gas Alley to Fifth Avenue extension at Harriet Street.

The steep gradients and cramped turns from Hawkins Avenue to Braddock Avenue, at the Braddock borough line, should be short-circuited by extending Fifth Avenue eastward from Hawkins Avenue to Kenmawr Avenue, lowering the grade of the latter or even running under it if necessary to get an easy gradient, and thence running southward along the side of the valley to Braddock Avenue.

The portion of Braddock Avenue north of the Pennsylvania Railroad should connect with this new street by bending sharply to the west, after crossing the tracks, descending on a gradient of 4 or 4½ per cent, and joining the Fifth Avenue extension at about Antisbury Street.

39. _Forbes Street Extension._--Kelly Avenue is the best extension of Forbes Street from East End Avenue, under the Pennsylvania tracks, to the eastern portion of Wilkinsburg. The two streets do not connect easily at Peebles Street, and a diagonal should be run through the Pittsburgh Field Club grounds from East End Avenue to Kelly Avenue.

From Trenton Street to West Street, Kelly Avenue is quite steep; but the gradient can easily be reduced by filling 10 or 12 feet at West Street.

40. _Woodstock Avenue Extension._--Woodstock Avenue is probably the most important thoroughfare from Swissvale to Braddock, East Pittsburgh, and points up Turtle Creek; but it connects very indirectly at Swissvale with Edgewood and Braddock Avenues, its main feeders. From Rosslyn Street it should be extended to Center Street at the end of the Washington Avenue bridge over the railroad, and from there curve around parallel to the railroad, descending gradually past the Swissvale station to Braddock Avenue. The corner of Noble and Orchid Streets could be lowered to meet the grade of the new street, and the connection with Edgewood Avenue would be via Orchid Street as at present.

41. _Bell Avenue Extension._--Hawkins and Bell Avenues form the natural extension of the Woodstock Avenue thoroughfare through North Braddock. The connection between these two, however (west of Jones Avenue), is indirect and cramped. Fortunately it can easily be improved; Bell Avenue should be extended northwest along High Street (by widening the latter on the south side), thence, by a viaduct or filling, across the ravine to join Hawkins Avenue at the bend by Penn Street.

42. _Ardmore Thoroughfare._--The route of the Ardmore car line offers a first-rate opportunity for a direct thoroughfare from Wilkinsburg to East Pittsburgh and thence up Turtle Creek. Such a thoroughfare is much needed, partly because it will open up for development large areas of the back country in Wilkins and Braddock townships and partly because, owing to the already dense development in Rankin, Braddock and Bessemer, efficient thoroughfare widenings between the steep hills and the river would be so expensive as to be hardly justified and very difficult of attainment. The need for extensive street widenings through these districts will be practically eliminated by a thoroughfare of easy gradient along the Ardmore route. It is understood that the County has already begun the construction of this street.

43. _Wilkins Township Thoroughfares._--From Wilkinsburg, Penn Avenue is the chief thoroughfare approach to most of the hilltop country in Wilkins township, feeding it via the Greensburg Pike and another highway to the east. Its gradient is very bad. A new approach can be made to the high land on an easy gradient by branching to the north from the proposed Ardmore thoroughfare (Section 42 above) about 3,000 feet east of Franklin Avenue, crossing the mouth of the first valley and following up the side of the eastern valley to the hilltop roads.

As a further improvement, opening up this high land and connecting the important radial thoroughfares, this new street should be extended north along the hilltop to Frankstown Road.

44. _Greensburg Pike._--From the northwest the Greensburg Pike (or Penn Avenue) descends into Turtle Creek with many sharp angles and a very steep gradient. A new hillside street descending the west side of the hill, rounding the nose thereof, and thence extending northward down to the valley level at Turtle Creek, is not an impossible solution of the present difficulties.

45. _Greensburg Pike South of Turtle Creek._--South of Turtle Creek the Greensburg Pike again ascends the hill on a pretty steep gradient. In part at least this gradient can be improved by making the route somewhat more circuitous.

46. _Streets Run._--From the Glenwood bridge one thoroughfare, destined to be of importance, follows the valley of Streets Run to Miller's Grove, branching there into lines feeding Snowden, Jefferson and the southern portions of Baldwin and Mifflin townships. The street needs, in addition to widening, some re-alignment and regrading. At several points where it crosses the Run, the fords should be replaced by bridges.

47. _Dravosburg and Mifflin Township Thoroughfares._--Going south from the Glenwood bridge the first valley branching eastward from Streets Run leads to the high land at Lincoln Place. Irwin Street is the present thoroughfare in this valley, but towards its upper end it becomes rather steep for main thoroughfare purposes. The most feasible plan to reach the southern highlands of Mifflin township and to connect with Dravosburg and thence up the Monongahela, is probably to follow up the south fork of the Irwin Street valley, climbing gradually but steadily along the hillside, and reaching the high land above the head of Thompson Run. From this point branch roads can tap much of the hilltop land of the township. Extending southeast the main road would cross the ridge south of Thompson Run, and descend gradually along the south side of the ridge to Dravosburg; there it would connect with lines up the Monongahela River.

The high land between Streets Run and Whitaker Run can probably be best served by a hillside road following up the valley between Homestead and West Homestead.

48. _Eighth Avenue Improvement._--The Eighth Avenue extension, from Munhall to Duquesne, has for the most part a satisfactory gradient for a main thoroughfare; but just south of Green Spring it is unnecessarily steep. The road can easily be shifted a little down the hill, and the climb lengthened enough to get a very easy gradient.

The location of this thoroughfare high on a precipitous hillside overlooking the river and the enormous industrial plants at Braddock and Bessemer, vital elements in the development of the Pittsburgh District, presents an opportunity for scenic value which should not be overlooked. The natural beauty of the hillside and the interesting outlook over the river should be preserved.

49. _Eighth Avenue Branch Westward._--The best way to reach the high land west and northwest of Duquesne is from the Eighth Avenue thoroughfare. A branch could easily wind up the hill from the vicinity of Kennywood Park, and thence cross the hilltops forming a main east and west thoroughfare.

50. _Eighth Avenue Branch to Dravosburg._--From the next plateau south of Kennywood Park a branch could be extended southwest across Thompson Run (on a viaduct) and along the high land south of the Run. By branches, very little steeper than the main road, good connections can be secured with Duquesne and Dravosburg.

51. _Duquesne Bridge._--The bridge from Duquesne to McKeesport has cramped and dangerous approaches at both ends. The northern approach should be widened and made less abrupt. The southern end of the bridge should be lifted and the bridge extended over all the railroad tracks.

52. _California Avenue and Brighton Road Extension._--Coming now to the North Side, one of the most important thoroughfare routes runs northwest through Bellevue, Avalon, Ben Avon, Emsworth and down the Ohio River to Sewickley, Leetsdale and points beyond. California Avenue in Allegheny, Lincoln Avenue in Bellevue, California Avenue again in Avalon, then either Brighton Road in Ben Avone, and the old Beaver Road in Emsworth, or the route followed by the street-car line through these two boroughs, and the Beaver Road again beyond, practically comprise this thoroughfare.

Connecting with Stockton and Marion Avenues, a street should be cut through West Park, North Side, adjacent to the east side of the railroad from Ohio Street, to the junction of Irwin and North Avenues. Thence a diagonal should be cut through to the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Fremont Street. (Diagram No. 11.) These changes, together with the widening of Fremont Street and Washington Avenue, will give a proper and sufficient outlet (and inlet) for both the California Avenue and the Brighton Road thoroughfares.

California Avenue should also be cut through, adjacent to the railroad, from the corner of Sedgwick and Kirkpatrick Streets to Wolf Alley.

53. _Brighton Road Viaduct._--In Ben Avon, Brighton Road makes a steep and circuitous dip into the Spruce Run valley. This may be avoided by carrying the street across the ravine on a viaduct from about Park Street on one side nearly to Dickson Avenue on the other.

54. _East Street._--On account of its steepness, and the difficulty of improving the gradient, Perrysville Avenue will never be a main thoroughfare except to the high country immediately north of the down town North Side. East Street, therefore, must eventually become the principal thoroughfare leading north. Its gradient is easy and it needs only widening. Throughout much of its length (except at the southern end) the widening can now be done, mostly on the east side, with comparatively little expense for building damage. The physical widening, however is most urgently needed from Third Street to Madison Avenue, where the thoroughfare is only 40 feet wide and is closely built up.

Spring Garden Avenue is a thoroughfare; but as practically all the territory which might be reached thereby, except the narrow valley in which the street runs, can be served perfectly well from East Street and from other lines, the expense of widening Spring Garden Avenue and its approaches seems scarcely justifiable.

55. _Troy Hill Road._--Troy Hill Road is the thoroughfare to Troy Hill and the ridge to the north in Reserve township. From Ohio Street up to the plateau level it is quite steep, about 8 per cent. The only feasible improvement is to run a new hillside street from Vinial Street at Wooster around the west nose of the hill and up the north side to Lowry at Gardener Street. The gradient can thus be reduced to about 5 per cent. But because of the somewhat limited area to be served by this thoroughfare, and the considerable expense of constructing such a road, this improvement is not urged as of special importance.

56. _Lowry's Lane._--From Ravine Street north to the county road, Lowry's Lane, a link in the Troy Hill Road thoroughfare, is very steep (about 10 per cent). From the foot of the hill a street can easily be run around the west side of the hill, reaching the county road at its southern end. By this short detour the gradient will be reduced at least one half. It is understood that the County has already started an improvement of this nature.

57. _East Ohio Street._--East Ohio Street with its extensions--Butler Street, Main Street, Freeport Street and the Freeport Road--forms the only thoroughfare from the North Side through Millvale, Etna, Sharpsburg and Aspinwall up the Allegheny River. Most of the way from Troy Hill Road to Etna, the street is in sore need of widening and paving. Where it is adjacent to the railroad one sidewalk can be omitted and that much width saved.

At Millvale the grade must be raised to meet a new approach over the railroad to the Forty-third Street bridge. (Section 6.)

58. _Millvale Thoroughfare._--Girty Run valley, at the mouth of which is Millvale, must inevitably be the route of the trunk line for a most important northern thoroughfare system. Thoroughfares following Girty Run and its numerous branches can reach Westview, Perrysville and all parts of Ross and McCandless townships and points north, on reasonable gradients.

From the mouth of the valley up to Evergreen, the present thoroughfare, comprising Grant Street, North Avenue, Klopfer Street, and the Evergreen Hamlet Road, is narrow and in some cases very crooked, and is more or less closely lined with buildings. Improvements on this line have not been studied in detail but much widening and some re-alignment is urgently needed. Probably the widening of Grant Street will be more satisfactory than paralleling it with a new street.

59. _Etna Improvement._--Etna is at the mouth of the Pine Creek valley, the route of another very important thoroughfare system. Butler Pike, the Middle Road, Kittanning Pike and the three valley roads following Pine Creek and the two Little Pine Creeks, reaching all available country to the north on easy gradients, converge at Etna.

To avoid the bottle neck at the Spang-Chalfant mills a new street should be run west of the mills from Bridge and Butler Streets over the creek and the railroad, joining Butler Street again a little west of the Kittanning Pike. A branch should descend from this overhead street westerly to the street which parallels the railroad tracks on the south and connects directly with the Butler Pike and the line up Little Pine Creek west.

Further improvements on these thoroughfares have not been studied in detail, but numerous widenings and re-alignments are needed, especially in the Pine Creek thoroughfare.

60. _Sycamore Street Grade Crossing and Bridge Street Improvement._--Bridge, Freeport and Main Streets should be lifted over the Baltimore & Ohio tracks at Sycamore Street. Bridge Street had best be kept up, probably on a viaduct, clear to the Sharpsburg bridge. The South Main Street approach to this bridge will thus be cut off, but another eastern approach will be provided. (Section 61 below.)

61. _Allegheny River Boulevard._--From the Sharpsburg bridge up the river to Hoboken and possibly to Montrose, a first-rate opportunity is presented for a riverside thoroughfare or boulevard. Such a line will have rare scenic value and will also take much traffic from Main Street and the Freeport Road. It is understood that the Pennsylvania Railroad owns all the land from the Sharpsburg bridge to Aspinwall between the river and Main Street, but as no railroad development has yet taken place it seems not unlikely that sufficient land can be obtained next the river for the boulevard.

At its western end this new street would connect by a viaduct directly with the Sharpsburg bridge.

62. _Main Street Grade Crossing._--The railroad grade crossing on Main Street (Sharpsburg), near North Canal Street, is peculiarly dangerous because the sudden angles in the street interrupt all view of the crossing until one is almost upon the tracks. No better way of separating the grades appears than to raise Main Street and carry it over the railroad. The railroad grade might be lowered somewhat but probably not enough to materially reduce the grade damages for filling on Main Street.

A connection should be made from the bend just east of this crossing out to the riverside boulevard proposed above. (Section 61.)

63. _Squaw Run Thoroughfare._--North from Claremont is the valley of Squaw Run with its branch Stonycamp Run. The thoroughfare in this valley should be extended south to the Freeport Road and the proposed riverside boulevard. (Section 61.)

64. _Carson Street._--South of the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers, Carson Street is a continuous thoroughfare from Ormsby, on the east, to McKees Rocks and points down the Ohio River, on the west. All thoroughfare lines from the south and west feed into Carson Street and are thence distributed to the bridges leading into the city proper. This street is of varying width, nowhere (except for ten blocks east of South Seventeenth Street) more than 50 feet and often much less.

_(a)_ From Brownsville Avenue to South Seventh Street the vehicle capacity of the street can be somewhat increased by removing the south sidewalk which is next to the railroad. This improvement, however, would not obviate the need for a general widening of the whole street. The gradient from South First to South Fourth Street should be reduced by filling at the former end and cutting slightly at the latter.

_(b)_ From the Point bridge to Main Street (West End) West Carson Street is most in need of improvement and is at the same time most difficult to improve. Though much study has been put upon this problem, no plan has been hit upon less expensive or less difficult of accomplishment than a generous widening accompanied by slight re-alignment. By widening entirely on the south side most of the property between the street and the Panhandle Railroad would be taken and what is left could be used for warehouses, coal pockets and the like. The manufacturing property north of Carson Street would thus be undisturbed.

_(c)_ From the West End to Corliss Street, Carson Street is confined between two railroads. As there is no abutting property available for buildings, one sidewalk is sufficient and that could be reduced to a minimum width of 8 or 10 feet. Furthermore, as the street is for the most part well above the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie tracks the sidewalk might be bracketed out over the tracks, thus leaving a clear roadway of at least 48 feet.

_(d)_ From Corliss Street to McKees Rocks, West Carson Street can readily be widened on the southwest side. One sidewalk will still be sufficient.

65. _Chartiers Avenue Grade Crossing._--Chartiers and Island Avenues are the main connections from West Carson Street through McKees Rocks. Close to the junction of these streets, where the Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railroad crosses Chartiers Avenue at grade, the street should be raised and the tracks somewhat lowered to separate the grades.

66. _Wind Gap Road._--The Wind Gap Road is the present thoroughfare from McKees Rocks to Ingram and Crafton. The connection with Chartiers Avenue should be improved by carrying the street on a viaduct over the creek and both the railroads in the valley, and then cutting an approach through, running about north, from Caughey Street to Chartiers Avenue.

67. _Corliss Street._--With the improvement of West Carson Street, its connection with Corliss Street becomes important. Corliss Street should be carried underneath both the Panhandle and the Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny tracks to West Carson Street. Charters Avenue and Corliss Street will thus form a short line of fair gradient to the high portions of Sheraden and Esplen.[18]

68. _Crafton Hillside Thoroughfare._--From Main Street (West End) the Noblestown Road is a main thoroughfare on reasonable gradients to Carnegie and points south and east. From the sharp turn near Stratford Avenue (Chartiers township) a main branch into Crafton should follow the present street railway line. On the steep hillside it should be constructed as a three-level street, cars in the middle and a roadway on either side.

69. _Crafton-Carnegie Connection._--There is no direct connecting highway between Crafton and Carnegie. A street should be constructed from Ridge Avenue to Idlewood Avenue along the street car line just north of the Panhandle Railroad.

70. _Washington Road._--Washington Road through Greentree borough is an important hilltop thoroughfare feeding into West Carson Street through the West End. From the hilltop down to Woodville Avenue it is undesirably steep. A new road should be built from the top of the hill running northward down the west bank of the valley, rounding the nose of the hill and running west about a thousand feet, then crossing the ravine on a viaduct and joining the Noblestown Road just west of West End Park. The gradient on such a road would not be over five per cent.

71. _Sawmill Run Thoroughfare._--Sawmill Run valley offers a splendid opportunity for a connecting and radial thoroughfare from the West End to Bell Tavern and thence south to Fairhaven, Castle Shannon, and points beyond in Bethel, Snowden and Jefferson townships. Branching to the southwest would be at least two important valley thoroughfares, the Banksville and West Liberty Roads. Woodville Avenue, from the West End through Shalerville, is the start of such a thoroughfare. It should be improved and extended up the valley, past the Bell Tavern, to Oak Station and the Library Road. Such a thoroughfare should be designed as part of a boulevard system.[19]

The proposed traffic tunnel to the South Hills will come out in the valley between Mt. Washington and Beltzhoover, probably a little east of the south portal of the present street car tunnel. To serve its best purpose this traffic tunnel must have thoroughfare connections on reasonable gradients to all available land south of Mt. Washington and Allentown and east of Little Sawmill Run. The more important thoroughfare extensions from the tunnel are noted below, Sections 72 to 75 inclusive.

72. _(a)_ _Washington Avenue Improvement._--Washington Avenue forms too steep a line up to the tunnel from the valley thoroughfares--the West Liberty Road and the Sawmill Run Road proposed above (Section 71). A reasonable gradient can be secured by raising the grade of the West Liberty Road north from the West Side Belt railroad bridge to Kaiser Avenue, thence running a bridge north across the valley, then climbing gradually northward along the hillside and joining Washington Avenue just below the Castle Shannon railroad bridge. Above this point Washington Avenue should be regraded by cutting at the top of the steep portion, thus getting an easy gradient to the new tunnel.

_(b)_ _Southern Avenue Connection._--From a point just below the Castle Shannon railroad bridge a branch connection should be run west across the valley to Boggs Avenue, about at Minsinger Street, thus connecting the new tunnel with Boggs and Southern Avenues leading to Mt. Washington.

73. _(a)_ _Beechview Thoroughfare._--The higher lands to the south, upon which most of the future development will take place, can best be reached by a street around the west end of the Beltzhoover ridge at, or slightly above, the level of the Castle Shannon railroad, about the location of the present Boggstown Avenue. From a point two or three hundred feet east of Sylvania Street a sloping viaduct should be run southwest up over the street railway bridge and the West Side Belt tracks to the nose of the opposite hill. From here a new street should be run west climbing gradually along the north slope of the hill to the high land at the northern end of Beechview. An extension of this line should then be made from Crane Street and Center Avenue southerly along the west side of the Beechview ridge joining Seventh Avenue just south of South Sharon Avenue. Beechview and the West Broadway thoroughfare, running south along the ridge, can thus be reached on a gradient under 4 per cent instead of 6½ or 7 per cent along the present street car right-of-way, or considerably more than that on the present streets. The viaduct from Southern Avenue to Price's Hill, proposed in the recent bond issue program, has been studied with some care, but the steep gradients it would require--6 per cent or over--to reach the hilltop land have led to its abandonment in favor of the plan just proposed.

_(b)_ _West Broadway Extension._--West Broadway should be extended along the present street car route from Snyder Street south to the junction of the Banksville and West Liberty Roads.

_(c)_ _Lang Avenue Connection._--Starting again from the southerly end of the above proposed viaduct over Sawmill Run, a street should be built running south over the West Liberty road and striking the opposite hillside at or just above Lang Avenue. Southwest from here, nearly to Summerhill Street, Lang Avenue should be shifted slightly down the hillside to reduce its gradient from about 12 to 4 or 5 per cent.

_(d)_ _Sawmill Run Hillside Thoroughfare._--Returning now to the northerly end of the proposed viaduct over Sawmill Run, the thoroughfare from Washington Avenue should be extended south along the Castle Shannon railroad to the Library Road at Oak Station. The road should be built on the uphill side of the tracks to facilitate running branch roads to the high country east thereof. If the Sawmill Run valley shall become park land[20] this new street will be a border drive with a commanding location overlooking the park.

74. _Fairhaven County Road._--Just south of Fairhaven the county road climbs the hill to the Brownsville Road on a 10 per cent gradient. This can easily be reduced one half by shifting the road a little west, down the hillside, and reaching the high land twelve hundred feet farther south.

75. _Carrick Connection from the South Hills Tunnel._--Perhaps the most important district to be reached, via the proposed South Hills tunnel, is that tapped by the Brownsville Road, i. e. Mount Oliver, Lower Saint Clair, Carrick and most of Baldwin township. To serve this district requires a thoroughfare connection past the bad gradients of the Beltzhoover ridge, to Brownsville Road at or beyond Charles Street.

There appear to be two possible routes for such a connection.

The shorter is as follows: along Washington Avenue east to Curtin Avenue, thence diagonally southeast to Climax Street, along Climax Street widened to a point about 200 feet east of Allen Street and thence diagonally southeast and through a short tunnel under the ridge to the corner of Charles and Amanda Streets. Amanda Street connects south to the Brownsville Road; and Charles Street, if widened straight through to the Brownsville Road, would furnish a reasonably direct connection with Arlington Avenue leading along the ridge to the east. This route could probably be brought to a very reasonable gradient, say 3½ per cent as a maximum.

The other route is by a new street rising around the northerly end of the Beltzhoover ridge and connecting with Michigan Street. The latter would be widened and regraded, cutting through the two narrow ridges over which it now humps at Gearing Street and Estella Avenue. These streets would be carried over it by bridges at the present grade. The improved Michigan Street would be connected with Charles Street; and the latter would be widened and improved in gradient, with another separation of grades at Knox Avenue where there is now a sharp hump in the Charles Street profile. Instead of following Charles Street through to a right-angle corner at Amanda, the thoroughfare might curve at the end so as to join Amanda Street a block or two farther south. This route is at least two thousand feet longer than the other, but if the mouth of the tunnel is not dropped too low, it can probably be brought to a maximum gradient of not over 3¼ per cent.