PART I: The Down Town District
Pittsburgh: Main Thoroughfares and The Down Town District
Frederick Law Olmsted report to The Pittsburgh Civic Commission, 1910
page 9
Contents :
Previous :
Next
will be better realized when it is understood that at Soho a direct extension can be made, on easy gradients, from the widened Forbes Street to Fifth Avenue, the street which can more easily be widened beyond that point; and further, that, a little to the east, a new and greatly needed street might branch off to the right from Forbes Street where the latter turns inland. This new street would continue along the side hill above the river, and would provide the only possible convenient outlet from the down town district to all the upland regions south and southwest of Squirrel Hill. Thus the western portion of Forbes Street, when widened, would carry the great bulk of all future street traffic between the down town district and the whole district from East Liberty to the Monongahela River as well as all the country east and southeast of that triangle.
A New Traffic Center
The intersection of Forbes Street, widened, with Sixth Avenue, extended, is likely to become a traffic center of the utmost consequence to Pittsburgh. The importance of the Forbes Street route to the eastward has been indicated above; Sixth Avenue, crossing Fifth Avenue and Grant Street, leads toward the Union Station and toward all the northeast part of the business district and to the North Side bridges; a new bridge and tunnel are quite likely to lead from this very intersection to the South Side and the South Hills; from this center a good connection is readily obtainable with Fourth, Third, and Second Avenues and with the southern water front; and Diamond Street can be widened at moderate expense so as to continue Forbes Street right through the heart of the business district.
Sixth Avenue
The importance of Sixth Avenue between Forbes and Grant Streets has been pointed out. It is the natural route from the Union Station and the adjacent freight yards and from all the Allegheny bridges to the districts fed by Fifth Avenue, Forbes Street, the proposed South Hills bridge, and Second Avenue. It ought to be widened to the dimensions of a main thoroughfare, and its grade ought to be lessened. Its stream of travel splits at Grant Street, a portion turning to the left into the other part of Sixth Avenue, and a portion turning to the right along Grant Street to Liberty Avenue and the freight yards. The latter obviously is a very important line, and
Contents :
Previous :
Next
|