Greensburg settles on 5 projects to improve walking and cycling environment

Five priority projects to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists in Greensburg have been identified as part of an active transportation plan.

But the improvements are likely years away.

City council is expected to vote on the plan Monday, but some leg work, and funding, will be needed to put it in motion.

“It’s going to take awhile to actually build every one of these,” said project manager Mark Szewcow of Gibson-Thomas Engineering.

The active transportation plan is a blueprint to improve infrastructure for walking and cycling around Greensburg that city officials can use to seek grants for projects. Its creation was supported by a $20,000 WalkWorks grant from the state Department of Health and help from the Pennsylvania Downtown Center.

Public input was gathered this year and ultimately led to five of the proposed projects being identified as priorities. A couple dozen others were included in the plan, which looks at ways to make the city more walkable and livable while improving pedestrian safety.

“That’s sort of the No. 1 bullet point on this,” said Alec Italiano, city planning director.

The proposed projects are ranked for complexity, cost and how long it might take to get in place, said project engineer Jack Soles of Gibson-Thomas. Some of the easier suggestions could take a year or two, while others might take five years or more.

“One thing we always try to stress is this is a planning document,” Szewcow said.

The priority projects are:

• Adding crosswalks to North Main and North Maple streets on either end of Tunnel Avenue.

• Adding lighting and flexible posts between sidewalks and vehicle traffic in tunnels on Arch and College avenues.

• Create separation of the shoulder on College Avenue from traffic north to the boundary with Hempfield.

• Create separation of the shoulder on North Main Street from traffic between Clopper Street to the city’s border with Hempfield where residents walk to businesses in the area.

Italiano said some of the priority projects may require coordination among the city, PennDOT and Norfolk Southern to accomplish, and could be extended into neighboring municipalities.

The remaining proposed projects include: flashing lights at the mid-block crossing outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse on North Main Street; park improvements; creation of a bicycle route between Seton Hill University at the Five Star Trail; and adding pedestrian crossings at the intersection of routes 119 and 819. Some parts of town were identified as having deficient intersections that are in need of further study.

The plan also identified four initiatives city officials could consider undertaking: a policy for how neighborhoods or communities could request traffic calming improvements; addressing safety concerns on the Five Star Trail;, reinstating a Shade Tree Commission; and enforcement of illegal parking on sidewalks.

Greensburg is not alone in looking at ways to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

“These active transportation plans are being performed now by a lot of municipalities,” Szewcow said.

The plan is on Greensburg council’s agenda for a vote at Monday’s 6 p.m. meeting.