Celebrate the Frazier St Steps with the Oakland Bike/Ped Committee October 29

Frazier Street Steps

The Oakland Bike/Ped Committee invites you to celebrate their Capital Budget win for the Frazier St. Steps with some warm drinks and sweet treats

Guest Blog Post by David Salcido, Resident Chair of the Oakland Bike/Ped Committee

If you are a bike or pedestrian commuter who uses any of Pittsburgh’s ubiquitous public steps, you’ll likely recognize that, though they may be very useful, not all of the steps are in great shape. The Frazier Street steps in South Oakland, which provide a convenient link between Frazier Street, Romeo Street and Bates Street, could use some work.

This connection is critical because of the unique geography of South Oakland, which is largely only accessible from the Boulevard of the Allies. “The Boulevard” is a great corridor for cars and includes access to a number of bus stops, but it is also an intimidating barrier for pedestrians and bicyclists trying to get to and from South Oakland. 

The Frazier St. steps provide a critical third access point to South Oakland that goes in a completely different direction than the Boulevard. They offer connectivity for neighborhood residents to the rest of the world, in fact, by giving them nearly direct access (just a couple of streets to cross) to the Great Allegheny Passage trail network. And they make walking to dinner and a movie a real possibility on a nice summer evening. As long as you watch out for the sharp, broken, rusty railings….

The current state of the stairs is poor — the railings are rusted out and falling down, some of the stairs themselves are loose, crumbling or warped, and the landing point at the Bates Street crosswalk is unequivocally unsafe. This is why our group, the Oakland Bike and Pedestrian Committee, submitted a Capital Budget Request to the City earlier this year requesting action to improve the steps. We were ecstatic to learn recently that this request was tentatively accepted and will likely appear in the final FY2020 budget. The City has allocated $300,000 to fix the stairs, and while we ultimately have no details of how that improvement will take shape, almost any change will be welcome given their current condition. We will be diligently following up with the City to make sure progress continues and to help planners address the needs of neighborhood residents and anyone else who uses the stairs.

Trick Or Treat Celebration

To celebrate this success, we will be gathering on Tuesday, October 29th at 5 p.m. at the top of the steps near 3400 Frazier St.! We will have candy and hot chocolate, and are hoping to have a few trick or treaters from the simultaneous South Oakland Neighborhood Group Halloween Party. Please stop by to take a walk down the steps and chat about the upcoming improvements!

Details:

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Time: 5:00pm-6:30pm
Location: 3400 Frazier St. (Top of Steps)
Event Link and Information: Here


BECOME AN ADVOCATE

JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD’S BIKE/PED COMMITTEE

Don’t live in Oakland but want to get more involved with making Pittsburgh better for biking and walking? Become a bike/ped advocate. There are over 20 neighborhood bike/ped committees across the City and surrounding municipalities.

You can find a complete list of them here. You can always start your own committee too! Email anna@bikepgh.org for more information.


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