PART II: Main Thoroughfares
Pittsburgh: Main Thoroughfares and The Down Town District
Frederick Law Olmsted report to The Pittsburgh Civic Commission, 1910
page 59
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6. Forty-third Street Bridge. -- Butler Street is the main extension of the Penn Avenue artery up the Allegheny River, and its first branch thoroughfare is at Forty-third Street. The Forty-third Street bridge, like the one at Sixteenth Street, must soon be rebuilt.* This bridge connects Millvale and large sections of Shaler and Ross townships with the Point District via the Penn Avenue artery. The new bridge should be of ample width and should be high enough so that the approaches can be carried over the railroad tracks at either end.
7. Sharpsburg Bridge. -- The Sharpsburg bridge is the next important branch of the Butler Street thoroughfare. It forms the most direct connection from Pittsburgh proper to the boroughs of Sharpsburg and Etna and to large portions of Shaler and O'Hara townships. The bridge should be widened -- the present roadway being only 21 feet including car tracks -- and the northern approaches should be improved. (Sections 60 and 61 following.)
8. Butler Street Improvement. -- From a point nearly opposite the western end of Baker Street east to Haights Run, there is no property of value for manufacturing, or for dwellings, or stores, between Butler Street and the railroad which runs below it on the river bank. The same is true east of Haights Run as far as the Brilliant pumping station or the present beginning of Beechwood Boulevard. It seems very desirable that these portions of Butler Street, instead of being widened merely enough for traffic accommodation, be developed as a picturesque riverside parkway -- a fitting approach to Highland Park and a continuation of Beechwood Boulevard. This involves the control of the narrow strip of property between Butler Street and the railroad; though occasional houses might be allowed to remain therein without detriment to the effect as a whole. The Bureau of Parks is working along these general lines, and has already bought many parcels of the land north of Highland Park between Butler Street and the railroad.
9. Haights Run Bridge. -- The present Butler Street bridge over Haights Run is of light construction and has a total width of only 17 feet; this should be rebuilt of ample strength and capacity.
10. The Aspinwall Bridge. -- The Aspinwall bridge, crossing
* See Part V, Special Report on the Allegheny River Bridges.
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