Pittsburgh to spend $600K on 11 public restrooms throughout city

Mobile bathrooms will be popping up throughout Downtown Pittsburgh and other parts of the city over the next two years.

City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to allocate $600,000 in federal covid-19 relief money to bring 11 public restrooms to areas where bathrooms are hard to find. The city will work with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to maintain the bathrooms.

City officials and the nonprofit last year rolled out the “Pittsburgh Potty initiative,” which saw temporary mobile bathrooms installed near the Gateway Center T Station Plaza and the intersection of Smithfield Street and Strawberry Way.

Building off that project, the city will now install the public bathrooms at places including Mellon Square, Allegheny Landing, the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, Allegheny Commons, South Side’s The Color Park and East Liberty Presbyterian Church, said Pittsburgh Chief Financial Officer Patrick Cornell.

The mobile bathrooms will have water and heat. They will also have technology to notify attendants if someone has been inside for a long time and might need help. They will be accessible for those with disabilities.

A QR code will allow people to unlock bathrooms, and officials can also distribute key cards to people who don’t have a smart phone.

Officials are working on ideas for more permanent restrooms in key areas, Cornell said.

Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, applauded the initiative ahead of a preliminary vote last week. It’s often difficult, she said, to find bathrooms for herself or her kids throughout the city.