22. _Hamilton Avenue Extension._--The pr_Pittsburgh Main Thoroughfares and the Down Town District Improvements Necessary to Meet the City's Present and Future Needs

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.)

[Illustration: Diagram No. 8. Hamilton Avenue extension]

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.

[Illustration: Diagram No. 9. East Liberty Improvement]

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.

[Illustration: Diagram No. 10. Beechwood Boulevard connection. A

possible section]

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.

[Illustration: Diagram No. 11. Connection from West Park, north side to

California Avenue and Brighton Road.]

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.

[Illustration: A plan showing the thoroughfare extensions from

the proposed South Hills tunnel. Figures refer to the descriptive

paragraphs in the text]

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.

In the absence of complete and accurate information as to grades and

distances throughout these two routes, it is impossible to say which

is to be preferred. If, upon further study on the basis of reliable

topographical data, it should develop that a materially better

gradient can be secured by the longer route, that line would be the

more desirable. But if the saving in gradient should prove to be very

slight, perhaps not more than a third or a half of one percent, it is

believed that the shorter route, that via Climax Street, should be

adopted.

76. _Arlington Avenue and Washington Avenue Connection._--Arlington

Avenue is the direct road east from the junction of Washington Avenue

and the Brownsville Road, but between this point and South Eighteenth

Street it has two bad gradients, 7 per cent and over. To get a good

cross-town connection without such gradients and at the same time to

give better access to the Mount Oliver incline, Washington Avenue

should be widened east from the Knoxville incline to Amanda Street,[21]

and thence cut through on a curve to the corner of Angelo and Mount

Oliver Streets. By widening Mount Oliver and Freeland Streets, by

rounding off the east corner of Amanda and Freeland Streets and by

cutting back the southwest corner of Freeland and South Eighteenth

Streets, a nearly level, though somewhat circuitous, connection can be

secured between Washington Avenue on the west and Arlington Avenue on

the east.

77. _South Eighteenth Street._--Plans have been proposed, by the Bureau

of Surveys, to widen, pave and otherwise improve South Eighteenth

Street from the South Side up the hill to Arlington Avenue. The

gradient, which is now about 7 per cent, cannot be improved without

very radical and costly changes in the street location; and since the

proposed South Hills tunnel will reach, on easy gradients, practically

all the hilltop territory now served by South Eighteenth Street, the

trouble and cost of materially reducing the South Eighteenth Street

gradient seems hardly justified.

[Illustration: Diagram No. 13. Twenty-second Street bridge

approach--South Side]

The plans of the Bureau of Surveys propose a roadway width of 40 feet

with two sidewalks each 10 feet wide in some places and in others

7½ feet. This means a widening of from 5 to 20 feet. As this entire

section of South Eighteenth Street is on a hillside mostly steeper than

one in three, such widening will require from 2 to 7 feet of additional

retaining wall, or excessive cutting and filling, which means large

damage to property in the vicinity. Furthermore, the adjacent hillsides

are so steep that no extensive development of abutting property is

likely to take place.

In consideration of all these points it is urged that a width of not

less than 45 feet nor more than 50 feet be adopted in the improvement

plans. This will give a roadway 35 feet and one sidewalk 10 feet or

22. _Hamilton Avenue Extension._--The proposed extension of Hamilton