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November 20, 2014

Joncaire Street steps slated to be rebuilt

Bicycle runnels, similar to the one built on the Louisa Street steps, above, will be included when the steps from Joncaire Street, below, are rebuilt.

Bicycle runnels, similar to the one built on the Louisa Street steps, above, will be included when the steps from Joncaire Street, below, are rebuilt.

A key connection between Panther Hollow and central Oakland is set to become more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly.

The Joncaire Street steps, which connect Joncaire Street with Schenley Drive near the Frick Fine Arts Building, will be rebuilt with the help of $384,000 in federal Transportation Alternatives Project (TAP) funding.  Construction is scheduled to take place next year, a city spokesperson said.

The Joncaire Street stairs project was one of 56 projects statewide selected by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to share $33 million in federal TAP funding.

joncaireStepsA PennDOT spokesperson said the city plans to replace the deteriorated 136-step stairway with a wider, lighted staircase equipped with runnels to aid in rolling bicycles up and down. The project is budgeted at $480,000.

A Nov. 10 PennDOT release announcing the funding stated that TAP projects “enhance pedestrian and bicycle facilities, improve access to public transportation, create safe routes to school, preserve historic transportation structures, provide environmental mitigation, create trails that serve a transportation purpose and promote safety and mobility.”

Projects were selected based on criteria such as “safety benefits, reasonableness of cost, readiness for implementation, statewide or regional significance, integration of land use and transportation decision making, collaboration with stakeholders and leverage of other projects or funding.”

—Kimberly K. Barlow

Filed under: Feature,Volume 47 Issue 7