The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pittsburgh Main Thoroughfares and the Down Town District, by Frederick Law Olmsted This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Pittsburgh Main Thoroughfares and the Down Town District Improvements Necessary to Meet the City's Present and Future Needs Author: Frederick Law Olmsted Release Date: September 15, 2015 [EBook #49972] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PITTSBURGH MAIN THOROUGHFARES *** Produced by Richard Tonsing, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) PITTSBURGH MAIN THOROUGHFARES AND THE DOWN TOWN DISTRICT East Ohio Street—a two-line thoroughfare Fifth Avenue—a four-line thoroughfare Of the 530 miles of main thoroughfares within a radius of seven miles of City Hall, less than one and one-half per cent have room for passage between cars and vehicles, slow-moving or standing at curb. See page 31. Liberty Avenue—a six-line thoroughfare PITTSBURGH CIVIC COMMISSION PITTSBURGH MAIN THOROUGHFARES AND THE DOWN TOWN DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS NECESSARY TO MEET THE CITY'S PRESENT AND FUTURE NEEDS A Report BY FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED Prepared under the direction of The Committee on City Planning ADOPTED BY THE COMMISSION DECEMBER, 1910 324 FOURTH AVENUE Publication No. 8 FEBRUARY, 1911 PITTSBURGH CIVIC COMMISSION H. D. W. English President J. W. Kinnear First Vice-President John W. Beatty Second Vice-President H. J. Heinz Third Vice-President J. J. Donnell Treasurer Allen T. Burns General Secretary O. H. Allerton T. E. Billquist Charles F. Chubb William L. Jones Morris Knowles H. L. Kreusler Joseph W. Marsh Marcus Rauh George R. Wallace Charles F. Weller COMMITTEE ON CITY PLANNING T. E. Billquist, Chairman Charles F. Chubb Benno Janssen H. J. Heinz Richard Kiehnel E. K. Morse Copyright, 1911 By Pittsburgh Civic Commission Mount Pleasant Press J. Horace McFarland Company Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Dedication THIS BOOK AND ITS CONTENTS ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE CITIZENS OF PITTSBURGH WHO, IMBUED WITH CIVIC PRIDE AND THE VISION OF A CITY USEFUL, CONVENIENT, ECONOMICAL AND HEALTHFUL, AS WELL AS BEAUTIFUL, WILL, IN THE YEARS TO COME, RESPOND TO THE CALL OF THEIR CITY TO SERVE IT WITHOUT HOPE OF PERSONAL REWARD, AND WITH PATIENCE, FIDELITY AND ENTHUSIASM. PITTSBURGH CIVIC COMMISSION TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Letter of Transmissal xi City Planning and the Cost of Living in Pittsburgh xiii Introduction and Summary of Urgent Recommendations 1 Part I. The Down Town District 5 The Main Arteries 5 Eastward Arteries and Their Improvement 6 A New Traffic Center 9 Sixth Avenue 9 Try Street Grade Crossing 10 Second Avenue Freight Yards 10 The Hump Cut 10 Grant Boulevard Extension 11 A Civic Center 11 Diamond Street Widening 17 Market Street Widening 17 The Market 18 The Water Front 19 The Improvement of The Point 29 Part II. Main Thoroughfares 31 Width of Thoroughfares 31 Special Types of Thoroughfares 34 Widening Old Streets 37 Unified Procedure for City, County and Borough 43 Specific Recommendations 44 Penn Avenue Artery 44 Forbes Street Artery 47 South Hills Artery 49 Outlying Thoroughfare Improvements (with special indices) 59 Part III. Surveys and a City Plan 93 Pittsburgh's Need for Surveys 93 Objects to be Secured 94 Technical Procedure 95 Maps 96 Management and Cost 98 Sample Maps 98 Data from New York 98 Data from Baltimore 100 Part IV. Notes on Parks and Recreation Facilities 101 The Bellefield Improvement 101 Grant Boulevard 106 Steep Hillsides 109 General Discussion of Parks 113 Neighborhood Parks 113 Rural Parks 116 Special Park Opportunities 117 Part V. Special Reports 123 The Market 123 The Hump Cut 128 The City and the Allegheny River Bridges 133 Letter of Transmissal November 26, 1910. Mr. T. E. Billquist, Chairman, Committee on City Planning. Pittsburgh Civic Commission. Dear Sir:—I have the honor to submit herewith a report upon desirable improvements in the main thoroughfares and the down town district of Pittsburgh, prepared in accordance with the instructions of your Committee and in consultation with its members. In submitting the report I wish to take the opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the attitude of your Committee throughout the twelve months during which the investigations and the preparation of the report have continued, and of the part which the keen interest of its members and their helpful criticism have had in making the report a useful one. The closeness of the connection between the problems discussed in this report and those of the Traction System, which have been concurrently studied by Mr. Bion J. Arnold, has involved frequent conferences with Mr. Arnold and his assistant, Mr. George A. Damon, as well as with Mr. John P. Fox, engaged by the Mayor for a study of the same problem; and the information and suggestions furnished by them have been of great assistance. In the preparation of the report on the Allegheny River bridge problems, submitted jointly by Colonel T. W. Symons and myself and printed in Part V of this report, information furnished by Colonel H. C. Newcomer, in charge of the local office of U. S. Government engineers, has been of the utmost value. I am also greatly indebted to the Flood Commission, and especially to Mr. F. K. Morse, Chairman of the Engineers' Committee of that Commission, for the use of maps and other data gathered by them. It would have been impossible to secure an intelligent basis for the conclusions and suggestions presented in this report without the great quantity of detailed information and other help furnished by the Board of Assessors, the Departments of Public Safety, of Public Works and of Law, especially through Mr. N. S. Sprague, Superintendent of the Bureau of Construction, Mr. Chas. A. Finley, Superintendent of the Bureau of City Property, and Mr. Lee C. Beatty, First Assistant City Solicitor. Throughout the investigation and the preparation of this report I have had the benefit of illuminating and stimulating conferences with Mayor Magee. The actual gathering of necessary information from the above and other sources, the field studies and the preparation of nearly all of the drawings accompanying the report, were carried on under the direction of my personal assistant, Mr. Edward C. Whiting, with the active help of Mr. Allen T. Burns and Mr. Sherrard Ewing, General Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the Commission, to all of whom my hearty thanks are due. My friend and colleague in the study of several city problems elsewhere, Mr. Arnold W. Brunner, of New York, has given me valued counsel in regard to the possible architectural treatment of the proposed Civic Center, and has been good enough to contribute to the report the interesting sketches on pages 13 and 14 for a possible municipal building framing the east side of the proposed square. As explained at length in the body of the report, the work has been greatly handicapped and limited in its scope and effectiveness by the entire lack of accurate detailed maps of the city and surrounding country. This lack would have rendered the report almost wholly impossible had it not been for the very useful topographical map of this part of Pennsylvania prepared and published by the United States Geological Survey. Not only have my studies of the outlying thoroughfares been based almost wholly upon this map, but the Survey has courteously permitted the use of transfer sheets from their original plates for the thoroughfare map published in this report. Respectfully submitted, (Signed) FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED. A City Planning and the Cost of Living in Pittsburgh PURPOSE AND PREPARATION OF THE REPORT factor in the cost of living in Pittsburgh is stated graphically in the frontispiece of this report. These drawings also suggest, from Pittsburgh's own provision for some of her needs, a method to decrease this cost. All delays and congestion of traffic, such as illustrated on Fifth Avenue and East Ohio Street in the frontispiece and as shown by illustrations in this preface and the introduction, add to the expenses of manufacturers, the costs borne by wholesale merchants, and the prices charged consumers by retail dealers; in short inadequate traffic facilities in Pittsburgh, as in other cities, add to the cost of doing business and of living. The map at the end of this preface portrays a second factor influencing the cost of living. This map shows how much land Pittsburgh has, both used and still unused, for business, manufacturing and residence districts and for means of communication, i. e., streets between these districts. A glance also indicates the almost unparalleled problems of this city because of the large amount of territory 25 per cent or over in grade. For land of this grade is not only unused for buildings and streets, but also often erects barriers to the natural growth and spread of business, manufacturing and residence sections. Consequently, Pittsburgh must exercise greater ingenuity and foresight than other cities to prevent such congestion of all these activities as would increase rents of all kinds abnormally. This would mean again an added burden to the ultimate consumer for all life's necessities. In addition, tax rates are chronically assailed as a charge on the cost of living. But taxes are spent largely for improvements to furnish adequate streets, to provide for the city's spread and growth and to carry out other improvements which alone can make life livable and desirable in a modern city. In fact, "taxes may actually diminish the cost of living, if the city's money is spent economically in the performance of necessary co-operative service." But taxes are often wasted because the improvements are made piecemeal, by patchwork, with no reference to future needs. Taxes for such improvements should be made only as a part of a far-sighted and comprehensive plan. Then, without waste, work done at the present will fit into the work to be done in the future. DIAGRAM SHOWING MOVEMENT OF TRAFFIC AT IMPORTANT STREET INTERSECTIONS IN PITTSBURGH—WIDTH OF BAND REPRESENTS NUMBER OF CARS AND VEHICLES PER RUSH HOUR. Note: Vehicle traffic on Market Street, between Fifth and Liberty Avenues, now discontinued By offering solutions for the above and many other similar problems this report demonstrates that practical city planning —or better, replanning—is part of the world-wide conservation movement. City planning is municipal conservation. Pittsburgh, like other cities and to a greater extent than most of them, faces the problem of using her financial and territorial resources to the utmost. The "utmost" means making these resources go the furthest in securing ample streets for transportation and traffic, and easy communication between all parts of the city; in providing for the cheap distribution of food, fuel and clothing; in making all residence districts as nearly as possible equally healthful, un- congested, and provided with trees and yards; in establishing for all residents public accommodations for recreation and leisure; and in maintaining and developing adequate districts for retail and wholesale trade, manufacture and commerce. The Pittsburgh Civic Commission has conducted its city planning with the above ends in view, and purposes by this report to contribute to the economy, convenience, practicability and attractiveness of Pittsburgh's development and growth. The Commission began this work by retaining Bion J. Arnold, John R. Freeman and Frederick Law Olmsted to make a report on the outline and procedure of city planning for Pittsburgh. This report stated the scope and methods for investigations on the following subjects: Steam Railroads Water Transportation Electric Railroads Street Systems Public Lands and Buildings Water System Sewerage System Control over Developments on Private Property Smoke Abatement Building Code Provision has been made by which several sections of this program are already under way. The city administration has been foremost in appreciating the necessity for just such investigations as the report recommended. Expert advice at this period in our civic advance is imperative if this city is to take its proper rank among American cities. Upon completion of the preliminary report Mayor Magee undertook to have studies made upon the electric and steam railroads, and requested that the Commission release to the city Mr. Bion J. Arnold for this purpose. This the Commission gladly did, and since then Mr. Arnold has conducted these investigations for the city along the lines laid down in this preliminary report. The preparation of a building code as suggested in this report was authorized by the city councils at the request of the Mayor, and the latter appointed a competent building code commission, and an appropriation has been made for the carrying out of this part of the City Plan. Mayor Magee also secured the retention of Mr. Allen Hazen of New York, who is making such a comprehensive study of an adequate sewerage system as was suggested in this report. Likewise, the Mayor has planned to carry out the studies for the water system. The Commission itself continued the retention of Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted to make a study of a comprehensive main thoroughfare system for the center of the city and to the principal residence and manufacturing districts and the surrounding boroughs. Mr. Olmsted was also asked to report upon the locations of the main public buildings and grounds of the down town district. This report was to cover both immediately necessary improvements and a comprehensive improvement program for the next twenty-five years. Thus could present improvements be made economically because planned with reference to those of the future. The Commission presents herewith Mr. Olmsted's report on these subjects, made under the supervision of the Committee on City Planning. The members of this Committee have given months of time from their private business to the consideration of every detail of this report; and this committee, with Mr. Olmsted, has given to the report its value as a contribution to the movement for the Greater and Better Pittsburgh. PITTSBURGH CIVIC COMMISSION. GENERAL MAP OF THE PITTSBURGH DISTRICT PITTSBURGH MAIN THOROUGHFARES AND THE DOWN TOWN DISTRICT T Introduction here are two main divisions of City Planning. One looks to the rearrangement and improvement of what has already been unwisely done through lack of proper planning or through force of adverse circumstances of any sort. The other looks to the wise and economical layout of what still remains to be done, especially at the outskirts of the city where the major part of the city's growth is bound to occur, and where the city plan is daily taking shape out of nothing, whether it is intelligently designed or not. Prevention is cheaper than cure, and a moderate expenditure of effort and money will accomplish far greater results in the long run if applied to the wise control of the growing suburban districts, where new streets are constantly coming into existence, than if applied to costly remodeling of the older parts of the city; but the latter is sometimes of the utmost importance, and is of direct interest to a much larger number of citizens than the prosaic work of controlling scattered suburban development. In accordance with the instructions of the Commission this report deals primarily with certain problems of remodeling in the down town district, and with the improvement of the main thoroughfares between this, the heart of the city, and the more important outlying districts. To carry out at once all the recommendations of this report would, even if it were possible, impose an altogether unreasonable financial burden upon the City and the contiguous boroughs. Such procedure is unnecessary and indeed impossible. But in many cases there is a crying need for the improvement already, or it is of such a nature that any delay is apt to involve a considerable increase in the cost and the difficulty of carrying it out. Suggestive treatment of street junctions in outlying districts, Stuttgart The most urgent general improvement of this sort is the establishment of new building lines on all main thoroughfares which it is proposed to widen; this in order to anticipate, as far as possible, the construction of new and costly buildings on the present street lines. Of the specific recommendations made in this report it seems advisable to give the earliest attention to the following: In the Down Town District Page The cutting of the Hump and the widening of certain streets in the Hump District as recommended 10 The extension of Grant Boulevard to Webster Avenue 11 The acquisition of land required for the proposed Civic Center 11 The widening of Diamond Street 17 The widening of Market Street 17 The relocation of the Market 18 The new connection between Penn and Liberty Avenues at Eleventh Street 7 The elimination of the Try Street grade crossing 10 The proposed bridge and tunnel to the South Hills 49 Along Outlying Thoroughfares Section Sixteenth Street bridge 1 56 Twenty-eighth Street grade crossings 2 57 Thirty-third Street improvement 3 57 Forty-third Street bridge 6 59 [1] Haights Run bridge 9 59 Hazelwood grade crossing 18 64 [1]Baum Street improvement 20 65 Center Avenue improvement 21 65 [1]Hamilton Avenue extension and connection with Kelly Street 22 65 Larimer Avenue extension 24 66 Batavia Street 33 71 Wilkinsburg grade crossings 34 71 Wilkinsburg-Edgewood connection 35 71 Rankin improvement 38 72 Duquesne bridge 51 75 California Avenue and Brighton Road extension 52 75 Lowry's Lane 56 77 East Ohio Street paving 57 77 Sycamore Street grade crossing and Bridge Street improvement in Etna 60 78 Allegheny River Boulevard as far as Main Street connection 61 79 Main Street grade crossing in Sharpsburg 62 79 Carson Street 64b 80 Chartiers Avenue grade crossing 65 80 Crafton-Carnegie connection 69 81 Washington Avenue improvement 72a 82 Thoroughfare to Beechview 73a 83 Carrick connection from South Hills tunnel, probably Climax Street route 75 84 Twenty-second Street bridge approach—South Side 80 86 In the following cases the actual improvements are not so urgent, but the new street locations should be established before expensive developments, which are apt to occur at any time, shall interpose serious new difficulties in the way of the proposed improvements: Section Page Penn-Liberty connection at Howley Street 5 58 Fifth Avenue—Center Avenue connection at Soho 12 61 Ellsworth Avenue extension 13 62 Forbes Street extension 39 72 Etna improvement 59 78 For other specific thoroughfare improvements recommended in this report there appear to be no very urgent demands at present. Generally speaking they should be carried out only as some special opportunity offers, or in anticipation of some obstructing development which cannot now be foreseen, or as a growing traffic shall demand. But a thing of greater consequence than any one of these specific improvements, a thing of vital import to every taxpaying citizen of the present and future City, is the making of comprehensive and accurate topographical maps. It is only on the basis of such maps that all municipal engineering, and indeed much other work, directly managed by the City, can be planned and carried out with proper economy and efficiency. It is only on the basis of such maps that improvements in the city—details of city replanning—can be most economically determined. And in the outlying districts, where the future city is being built, such maps are absolutely essential to an intelligent planning or control which will avoid the heavy penalties that follow haphazard city growth, especially in such a hilly region. Comparative diagram showing the volume and the estimated gross tonnage of traffic on the thoroughfares leading into the Down Town District GENERAL PLAN OF THE DOWN TOWN DISTRICT FOOTNOTES: Already provided for, wholly or in part, in the current bond issue. [1]