Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey had one immediate thought as he looked at Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s refurbished Negley Station in Shadyside Thursday.
“This is phenomenal,” the mayor said during a ribbon-cutting for the project. “Having this is much more safe. It’s welcoming.”
The celebration marked the end of 15 months of construction and more than four years of planning to improve the station. The stop is among the busiest on the PRT system, boarding more than 100,000 riders a year.
The $2.1 million worth of work by Plavchak Construction Co. was designed to make the station more accessible, safer and provide an opportunity to develop 16,000 square feet of property the authority owns along the busway on Pierce Street. The authority is expected to seek proposals by the end of the year to build small apartment buildings with shops on the first floor at the site.
The work included reducing the grade and widening the ramp from South Negley Avenue to the station; installing barriers between the inbound and outbound lanes to protect riders crossing the busway; and improving the drop-off area on Summerlea Street by installing a canopy and providing an easier traffic pattern.
The site has new lighting and revised landscaping.
The station itself has new bike racks, ConnectCard machines and wayfinding stations.
Gainey, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh Regional CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman cited the importance of the station and the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway in general for connecting riders with jobs, food, medical services and entertainment. Kelleman said before the improvements the station was much less inviting with a long switchback ramp leading down to the busway that parallels railroad tracks in many areas.
“You were taking your life in your hands,” she said.
Now, with better lighting, landscaping and a separate ramp for risers with disabilities, the station is a much more attractive site, she said.
The authority is in the process of improving a series of stations across its system, with plans awaiting construction including light rail stops at Dormont, South Hills Junction and Station Square. Dormont is expected to move forward next with a request for proposals to upgrade, amenities and develop property at that joint bus-light rail station.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.