Closing Rialto Street is about the further cutting off an already isolated neighborhood atop a hill in Pittsburgh. This road is very steep and narrow, but several hundred cars a day manage to navigate it nonetheless. There are no clear answers as to who is behind this closure and why it is being closed. Some say the state, others say the city, or maybe it’s the safety director or Council President Darlene Harris… we don’t know. Some say it’s safety, to prevent more accidents, while others think it is a cost saving measure to eliminate another road during the route 28 reconstruction, and others think it is about eliminating a stoplight and saving time for commuters on route 28. When will it re-open? Will it re-open? We would like some answers but those too seem obscured. March 1? What about that dreadful St. Patrick’s day blizzard in 1993? All I know is that we have had some great weather since the barricades were put up and a lot of people are upset about this closure. It’s about the city doing what it wants without any public input. And getting away with it.
Let's find a better option than concrete barriers…
Are the barriers because of the weather or because of the construction at the base of Rialto? The safety issue is paramount–not traffick–but access to Troy Hill. This leaves ONLY Troy Hill Road and that part of Rialto that goes to Reserve Township. The firehouse has been eliminated. What else will the City and those who wish the community no good fasten on next? One of the reasons I’m no longer a member of Troy Hill Citizens is that they genuinely don’t seem to care about such issues. What they DO care about and the way I’ve seen them treat long long time residents is a Sin. The City, until now, has done a decent job of closing off Rialto when conditions require. This is absurd. The doofuses I’ve seen try to navigate Rialto in bad weather deserve the fishtails that have befallen them and their towtruck expenses.
Deteriorating Street.
I think it may be a contradiction but, for someone who walks down Rialto frequently, it seems that from non-use the street seems to be experiencing some kind of deterioration. As if the increase in trash on the street isn’t enough, it seems like the traffic seemed to aid the road surface in remaining stable. Without the traffic–unless it’s my imagination–the road surface seems to be the worse for non-wear.