Traffic calming projects will be a major focus for Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure in 2024, officials told City Council Tuesday.
Traffic calming involves the use of street design to slow vehicular traffic and make streets safer. Municipal traffic engineer Mike Maloch said during the department’s budget hearing that such projects are among those residents ask for most..
“I do see us as having a bit of a crisis on our hands in terms of the number of people who are seriously injured or killed on our city streets,” Maloch said.
While the total number of traffic crashes in Pittsburgh are down, serious and fatal crashes have gone up, and now exceed their pre-COVID levels, said Angie Martinez, DOMI’s assistant director.
DOMI completed 15 traffic-calming projects this year, and plans another 25 for 2024. But that’s out of some 200 sections of the city’s roadways that qualify for intervention.
DOMI is responsible for implementing most of the city’s capital budget, roughly $84 million out of $157 million in planned expenditures. This year, its efforts will include three major corridor planning projects — Broadway Avenue, Brownsville Road, and East Ohio Street — along with $17 million in street paving, and an effort to implement automated red-light enforcement to reduce speeding and crashes.
In addition, DOMI will undertake rehabilitation or construction of three major bridges — Charles Anderson, Panther Hollow Overpass, and Davis Avenue — as well as begin design and engineering work for 13 more.
A major intent of the department’s budget request is to do more in-house bridge management. By the fall, DOMI expects city crews to be able to complete fundamental maintenance such as cleaning.
City Councilor Erika Strassburger is a member of the city’s bridge commission, and commended the department for being careful stewards of taxpayer money.
“Some of our bridges that are in the worst condition or were in the worst condition … did not need a full rebuild immediately, really just needed maintenance,” she said.
Strassburger said that the city will have to continue to be creative about its revenue sources and expenses in the coming years. She noted that DOMI brings in grant money, which helps preserve the limited dollars the city has, and asked whether bringing in a grant manager — to help city departments apply for and manage financial aid — would be helpful.
DOMI officials said it would free up staff time and likely help them pull in more money.
For every city bond dollar allocated to DOMI, the department has secured $3.38 in matching funds.
