east liberty station: realizing the potential - City of Pittsburgh

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4. Maximize station connectivity
and visibility.
The most public frontages around the
station are currently dominated by a bus
access ramp connecting the station to a
now unused street level bus plaza. The
entire Penn Avenue and Shady Avenue
edge is defined by the busway ramp which
is separated by a gap from the bridge
supporting Penn Avenue itself. This public
front door to the station is show at right.
The sidewalk is channeled between a
concrete barrier and a chain-link fence
which limits the visibility of the actual
station platforms along its most public
frontage along both Penn and Shady
F
When the station was built the main access
route from this edge was through a bus
layover and transfer plaza at Penn and Penn
Circle South. This plaza was connected to the
station via a pedestrian bridge. This street
level plaza is no longer in use and in the
current planning will become a development
site which will put even more pressure on the
Penn and Shady edge of the station as it’s
main public address in the future.
In large part this condition is a result of the
curved busway ramp which sits between
this area and the station platforms. The
ramp is no longer in use as part of Port
Authority’s operations and in currently only
functioning as an emergency vehicle access
route. Providing an alternative emergency
access route would allow the ramp to be
repurposed as a key component of the
pedestrian entry sequence for the station.
The Penn Avenue edge of the station area
One of the most public frontages of the station at Penn and Shady
East Liberty TRID Study | Pittsburgh Department of City Planning