After more than 10 years of development, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership unveiled its first wayfinding kiosk Tuesday.
The kiosk, located where Liberty and Forbes avenues meet Stanwix Street, is one of 34 that will be installed by early July in Downtown, Oakland and the North Shore to help pedestrians navigate around the busy neighborhoods. Another 98 directional signs will be deployed throughout the three neighborhoods to help people find their way to local attractions.
Speaking at a news conference at the kiosk in front of Huntingdon Bank – the iconic corner that for several decades had a McDonald’s restaurant – Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey called the $1.4 million program “another tool to improve our city.” He said he expects the signs to be a great help for huge crowds expected in the city next spring when the National Football League holds its annual player draft in the city.
“As the nation focuses on us, we will be able to show what we have,” Gainey said. “It will be a great opportunity.”
Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of PDP, said the program to install the kiosks and signs began in 2014. The committee overseeing the project was prepared to place them in 2021, but with the pandemic in full force the region had higher priorities to deal with at that time.
Now, “the time is right,” he said, complimenting the “nice, sleek” design of the kiosks.
The facilities are colorful 8-foot-tall, two-sided signs with arrows directing walkers to attractions within a four- to seven-minute walk. This first one has a street grid with an overhead view of several blocks with the outlines of buildings, with some special locations such as PPG Place highlighted with a popup graphic.
Waldrup said the kiosks are mounted on concrete bases and designed to resist graffiti and scratching. The display areas are plates that can be replaced as business and attractions leave or change location.
This project’s first kiosks will be placed in three of the city’s busier neighborhoods, Waldrup said, but it is designed so that additional sites can be added if neighborhood groups want to raise money to get them in additional locations.
“That was the intention all along — to make it scalable so others can use it,” he said. “We’re happy to carry the water for them.”
Funding for the project came from three foundations — Benter, Buhl and Richard King Mellon — and seven other organizations: Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Duquesne University, Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Point Park University and VisitPITTSBURGH.
Groups that helped plan the work included the city, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Northside North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Business Improvement District and Oakland Transportation Management Association.
Rich Fitzgerald, executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, and others noted the wide range of government, business and private groups that worked together to produce the wayfinding kiosks.
“Government really is a team sport,” he said. “There is nothing like good signage.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.