Good morning and welcome to W T *** E listens, I'm Michelle Wright. Tomorrow is the first day of spring, which means construction season is upon us, whether you choose to drive bike or walk to your destination. We can all agree. Our area has some work to do. The weather is warming up and western Pennsylvania is on the some changes may be coming to your commute this year. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has big plans from the Parkway east to the fern Hollow bridge. *** lot of these bridges that we're talking about are 60 8100 years old. We sit down with Pen dot Leadership to see what's in the works. Also this morning navigating city streets from behind *** screen. It's these folks that have to perform that kind of disruption and then we see how everybody else reacts. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh using virtual reality to rethink our roads. We get *** tour from the professor leading the project and putting down the keys and putting the pedal to the metal safety affordability and environmental reasons are the reasons why we need more bike lanes. How can we create safer streets for everyone. The executive Director of Bike Pittsburgh lays out the path forward from bridge work to highway projects. Pen dot is said to have *** busy year, no matter where you live or work expect to be impacted. Cheryl Moon. Pen dot's executive deputy secretary explains the most significant improvements coming our way and Cheryl Moon joins us here. Now, we're so appreciative of your time as we talk about infrastructure and transportation. But I have to start by asking you about our bridges. *** report is out 2023 Pennsylvania Transportation report card saying 9.5% of our bridges are in poor condition and *** lot of money is needed to fix them. And we here in Pittsburgh are really in tune with that because of the fern hollow bridge that was horrifying to watch. What can you tell us about the state of our bridges? And should we be worried about traveling them? Well, no, you should be worried. We do an excellent job of brid inspection. We do *** two year bird inspection on every single bridge, very detailed inspection. And if there, if there are bridges that have *** little bit more concern or in poor condition, we do six months or *** year inspection. So the bridges that you're traveling across are safe even though they might be rated poor. The good thing about that number is that number was actually in the mid to high twenties few years ago and it's been brought down to 9.5%. So, although that seems *** little bit of *** high number, it's not as bad as it was previously, but that still doesn't mean we need to do *** lot of work. *** lot of these bridges that we're talking about, you know, are 60 8100 years old. They're definitely in need of replacement. Some of your major river crossings in Pittsburgh, you know, the west end bridge and Keys Rocks Bridge for Cambridge, they haven't been worked on in 30 40 years. Some of them so, and they uh you know, the cost of those are like in, you know, 100 million or so. So there's, there's *** lot of big bridges, *** lot of bridges that need attention. But as far as feeling safe, the public traveling public can definitely feel safe crossing our bridges. How often are they inspected? What is that process like? Yeah, every two years for most of the bridges and they, it's *** full depth inspection by certified bridge inspector. They're nationally certified bridge inspectors, they go out and hammer away and take pictures and view, you know, all the details of the bridges and to make sure they are safe. And then if there's issues, we check them *** lot more often or work to fix. You know, the fern Holler bridge was rebuilt in record time. We're so proud to see that. Is that going to change things moving forward on how you rebuild bridges or repair them. Yes, we do have some lessons learned, but honestly that did set *** bar and the norm for what *** lot of People would like to see. But there, whenever anything is deemed an emergency, it goes to the top of the list. For every agency, every, you know, every person that gets *** part of that project across our desk. That's the number one thing they work on and you can't have 200 emergencies going on at the same time. So, although we did learn some things, um the best part about that was the team work. Uh you know, being able to have the contractor, the consultant in, in the city, all working together allowed us to move forward *** lot quicker than had it been *** normally, you know, design bid build type of project. You're almost done with the Fern Hollow project, the Fern Hollow project. Yeah, we got to go into the spring and summer here because we haven't even really touched the park to rehabilitate the park down below. So that's going to be worked on if you notice there's only one lane going each direction across the bridge right now. So what we're going to be building is *** mid block crossing over on the Squirrel Hill side of the park and that's still going to go up. So if you're traveling across the bridge, you can cross the road safely at *** signal now and then there's *** road being constructed to bring you up from the trails below. So there's some improvements that still need made and hopefully by mid summer, everything will be open and you know, it'll be complete. Let's talk highways. Now. Uh, what are some of the biggest projects that will impact drivers? Well, last year was basically the year of 28 and we impacted 28 *** lot. We're not done with 28 yet. The Highland Park Bridge project is continuing and there's still *** project *** little bit north of that, that will be going on this year. So there will still be some impacts on 28 but not as much as last year. 79 is really continuing to be under construction. But this time, we're going to be starting all the way back at the moon run exit and projects will continue the whole way to the 2 79 79 split. There's three separate projects. So you'll have *** crossover there on 79 year moon run. Then you'll have *** Neville Island bridge project that's, that's wrapping up and then you'll go into another crossover from Neville Island all the way up to the split. So there's *** lot of work to be done on 79 and then the Parkway East uh will be starting later later this year. You won't probably see too much until maybe the fall, but you have *** lot of work to do on the Parkway East, the Parkway East will be under construction probably for the next 5 to 5 or seven, probably close to seven years. Um, *** lot of work to be done. Parkway East uh needs *** lot of attention. It's an old road, the barrier needs replaced. *** lot of the bridges need attention. Uh The commercial street bridge is *** huge one that's going to be under, not under construction until the following year. But um that will have *** lot of big impacts that's gonna shut down the road for *** while, the commercial street bridge will shut down the road. And then, then we're starting design on the Fraser Street Bridge too. So there's *** lot of activity that's gonna be happening on the Parkway East. You know, we're starting um you know, out towards Monroeville and working back in and then, oh, by the way, while we're doing that, we have work being done on 22 business 22. So there's ***, there's *** lot of um it's good, it's good for the region. You know, we this infrastructure bill allowed us to, to utilize some of these funds and these very critical highways had we not got that bill. *** lot of these projects would not be going out. So we apologize right now for the inconvenience to everybody, but it is *** good thing to be working on our infrastructure. How do you prioritize *** project because it seems like *** lot of work needs to be done. And I'm sure *** lot of people listening will say my road needs to be done. But how do you decide? And there are *** lot of road, they're right. There's *** lot of roads that do need to be done. There's *** whole, there's, there's *** whole different process for everything. Like landslides have their own process. That's another one. Everybody wants their landslides fixed. So we, we have to prioritize them based upon the, the traffic on the road, school bus routes, emergency vehicle routes. Um Our roadways, we prioritize ties in many ways. We have surveys done, it tells us what's the worst. But honestly, you can tell as *** driver what's the worst. And our, our maintenance folks often use the language, like can we hold it together any longer longer? You know, sometimes the road gets so potholed and so, you know, such *** state of failure, it has to go ahead of something else. I think I've hit every pothole there is out there. I know it's not the right now. It's, unfortunately, it's *** free thought time. We've had warm weather and cold weather. So, you know, we're trying to catch up with all them still ahead, putting infrastructure design plans to the test bike simulator or *** biker. And then we have also *** person who represents *** pedestrian *** behind the scenes, look at innovative road research happening at the University of Pittsburgh. Welcome back to W T *** listens every street you drive and path you walk is the product of design. So how can we create roads that keep everyone safe? At the University of Pittsburgh? Researchers are working to find out here at the Swanson School of Engineering. They are writing the rules of the road as they go, we are using this simulation system to better understand the reaction interactions actually between different multi model users, urban streets. Dr Alexander Stefanovic is an associate professor, teaching students about traffic engineering and transportation planning and this is their research lab. My students are working on multiple projects, some are related to the city and pen out. Some are there phd research project. The lab holds *** traffic management center and *** simulation system named Carla that depicts the roads on campus. The lab created in 2019 gives students the opportunity to bring formulas they've learned to life. These tools also serve *** larger purpose. The hope is to make the simulator more realistic and eventually use their findings to help the city of Pittsburgh. We don't get opportunity to play with people's lives on the streets. So having opportunity to have at least *** similar environment around here gives us *** chance to learn, maybe something that we could not easily learn without putting somebody in danger on the street. They can test traffic scenarios before they're implemented and offer information on how *** change could impact safety. Oh, wow, here's *** car. I got to give it *** try and can attest this tech is pretty cool. Doctor Stefanovic says traffic engineering can help prevent crashes, options like improving visibility, proper signage and innovative new technology can potentially save lives technology, the traffic signal so that you, for example, don't have to push *** pedestrian button if you want to cross the street, *** camera that spots you when you want to cross the street, that's just one tool they've been testing. Dr Stefanovic says walk research is gaining momentum all thanks to climate change. And if we can actually provide *** good infrastructure for pedestrians and for bicyclists, then that reduces the number of people that will drive their cars and that has *** direct impact on our climate and sustainability of our life on earth. In the long term, he says improving this kind of infrastructure in Pittsburgh is an uphill battle. Literally, we are contained by hills. We are constrained by weight of the roads and similars as for solutions. Dr Stefanovic says step one is making eco friendly transit more accessible planning of the trip starts from home. So if we provide more options and we better communicate what those options are to people so that they drive their cars less, then we can potentially convince more people to use public transportation, more people to walk more people to bike. And step two is funding. We we always have to try to convince our politicians to put more money in the infrastructure because infrastructure is important. If we don't have infrastructure, we cannot make our cities to be really livable. And that creates *** lot of problems overall, whether you're taking vehicles, bikes, scooters or your own two ft. The key is moving with the times the shape of urban travel is changing significantly. So we really have to be on the top of the of the things. Pittsburgh is *** walking town and we were designed for walking, paving the way for safer streets, the areas of our city seeing changes right now. Welcome back to W T *** listens learning how to share the road the right way. This morning, we're talking bicyclist and pedestrian safety with the co founder and executive director of Bike Pittsburgh. Right now. I would like to thank Scott Bricker with bike Pittsburgh for joining us talking about transportation. And I have to ask you, you know, in the past, the bike lanes were pretty controversial whether they should go downtown. *** lot of people were complaining but *** lot of people said we needed them. I'd like to hear from you. Why do we need them? Sure. Thanks for having me, Michelle. First of all. Um Well, one, I would, I just want to level set here and say there are less controversy Than people might imagine. We did some polling two years ago and we found that almost 75% of Pittsburgh voters actually believe that streets should be safe for everyone who uses them no matter what type of mode of transportation they use. About 70% think that protected bike lanes actually make it easier and more legible for people driving, biking or walking or taking transit. So *** lot of people actually, this is, this is popular. Um, you might be hearing from some detractors but in no way, are they the majority of people out there? But why do we need them? We need them primarily for safety. Um We're also facing an affordability crisis. Biking and walking are the most affordable modes of transportation. Uh We're facing *** climate crisis and an air quality crisis locally and they're also the cleanest modes of transportation. So really safety affordability and uh environmental reasons are the, are the reasons why we need more bike lanes? Are we having *** lot of bikers use the lanes? Oh, yeah, Pittsburgh actually ranks in the top 15 cities in the United States for biking to work. Um We uh we are in the top five cities for walking to work and in the top 10 cities for transit and Over and above that, about 25% of Pittsburgh households don't have access to *** car. So it's really an equity issue as well, what you said about our usage and where we rank really surprises me because of our weather here. It is, we're looking at spring time and we're having *** big snowfall. Now, I'm surprised to hear that we rank so high just because of our weather. Yeah. You know, *** lot of places in the world actually have bad weather. Some of the most, um, bike friendly cities in the world like Copenhagen have winter weather. They, they plow their bike lanes and, uh, the Netherlands, it's famously rainy and occasionally snowy there. Um, so, yeah, I mean, we also have hills but now there's, you know, e bikes are becoming more ubiquitous. We have *** bike rack on the front of every single port authority bus. Um in part due to bike, Pittsburgh's advocacy. So we're actually helping to flatten those hills whether, you know, somebody famous once said there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing and so you can really prepare for *** lot of that. Um So yeah, I, I'd say Pittsburgh has some advantages being um pretty tight. 90 neighborhoods, *** lot of them have uh business districts, most of them have sidewalks. The streets are pretty tight. We don't have uh you know, 456 lanes, uh going through our business districts which is actually really dangerous and scary to ride *** bike. So we have short distances and um slower speeds than in *** lot of other cities. And we have also thanks to our advocacy and through the city of Pittsburgh, uh more and more bike lanes coming to our streets. Let's take *** minute to talk about safety. You brought up the dangerous areas downtown. What are some problem areas that you're seeing? And is it safe to ride *** bike in Pittsburgh? Yeah, over and above. It's fairly safe. Um, we, any fatality is, is one too many. So we really are hoping that the mayor will pledge to end traffic fatalities and serious injuries on our streets by 20, So there have been three pedestrian fatalities just in the first two months of 2023. At this rate, it's going to be one of the worst um uh years on record uh in recent, in recent memory um for bicycling, uh we, there's typically about one fatality every two years. It's actually relatively safe. There are more serious injuries though. So the anywhere there's *** gap in the bike network, we need to bridge that gap with bike lanes, traffic calming, um better intersections that are slower. Uh So, so there's *** lot that we can do still, um to, to make those parts of the city safer. Finally, let me ask you what areas of the city or the county are you looking at that? You are hoping to expand? Are there projects that you're focused on to expand the bike lanes? Yeah, number one, the strip district, there's *** huge gap in the network that um between downtown and Lawrenceville and we would love to see uh safe bike lanes go in in the strip district. Um There are two other projects that are currently under way that we're very excited about. Um And that's the bus rapid transit project that connects Oakland to downtown. There's going to be sidewalk level protected bike lanes uh that go in and that's over the next two years. And uh Penn Circle conversion uh around East Liberty, that's also going to feature protected bike lanes. Pittsburgh is changing. It's nice to see walk ability is so important. Can you speak to that *** little bit? Yes, certainly. So bike Pittsburgh, it's not in our name, but it's in our mission. We're also pedestrian advocacy organization. So, walking, uh Pittsburgh is *** walking town. Uh and we were designed for walking. Um We, uh we feature fourth in the nation for walking to work. Um And like I said, you know, with the, with the high level of uh lack of access to *** car, uh it just makes sense that walking is going to be very popular also, you know, people want to be able to get around by other means and just getting in *** car and driving everywhere. So we just see *** lot of that, that proximity that I was talking about earlier working for us in terms of like just how many people are walking and the overall walk ability of, of the city of Pittsburgh. You're watching W T *** listen. Welcome back to W T *** listens. Whether you live in one of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods or any of the surrounding communities, tell us about what's wrong and what's right. So we can listen, you can send us an email W T *** E listens at hearst dot com. Thanks for joining us. Have *** good week.