Rialto Street. Closed for the winter.
As of Friday, January 22, Rialto Street, from Rt 28 at the bottom to the Ley Street intersection, has been closed with concrete barriers until the end of winter, i.e. safely sometime end of March. Why? Because a couple of weeks ago some knucklehead, ignoring a system that’s been in place for years, went around a DPW placed saw-horse barricade on an obviously wintry, icy day and ended up on his roof.
Allegedly Councilwoman Darlene Harris authorized this with the City on behalf of Troy Hill, because “we wanted it” as her office said when called. By “we” they mean an unpublicized meeting with three members of the neighborhood.
If you think this is just about adding fifteen minutes to your route, you’re wrong.
It’s about lack of respect for a process with community involvement.
It’s a short-sighted and bull-headed solution, to yes, a very real problem. (For more thoughtful problem solving check out the Don’t close Rialto Street blog.)
It’s about further isolating this neighborhood.
Besides which, the majority of the time in winter months the road is perfectly fine. The City of Pittsburgh does an excellent job of maintaining it during these months.
It may be too late this season, but without reaction it’s bound to set a precedent, not just now, but with any other decision that affects the citizens of this neighborhood without public discourse. If you’re not happy then please call the Mayor’s office at 412-255-2626 and/or Councilwoman Harris’ office at 412-255-2135.
this is absolutely ridiculous… people that aren’t very familiar with the area have to navigate an entirely new route around troy hill, which can get pretty complicated. accidents can happen anywhere, and one person’s mistake shouldn’t set the precedent for everyone esle… it’s beyond inconvenient.