Pedestrian Hit by Driver In Front of Children’s Hospital
The crash site at 44th Street and Penn Avenue.
Crash
At around midnight on July 28, a driver hit a pedestrian at the corner of 44th and Penn Avenue, in front of Children’s Hospital. The adult pedestrian was taken to another hospital in critical condition. The driver stayed at the scene, cooperated with police, and is not currently being charged.
Context
Both Penn Avenue (at least this portion of it) and 44th Street are owned by the City of Pittsburgh and maintained by the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI), and both have a speed limit of 25 miles per hour. 44th is a minor local street with so little traffic that PennDOT hasn’t bothered themselves to do a count. Despite this it does have dedicated left and right turning lanes, increasing its width and pedestrian crossing time. Children’s Hospital has two emergency accesses on 44th Street, one for ambulances across from Kellar Street, about two blocks up from Penn Avenue, and one for private vehicles off of Calvin Street, about a block up from Penn Avenue.
Penn Avenue is a major commercial arterial street that runs from Downtown all the way to Wilkinsburg and beyond, making it one of the longest streets in the city. In 2005 it saw over 15,000 cars per day, but but since then has plummeted to just over 6,000 in 2020. It is included in Pittsburgh’s High Injury Network, and is listed as a High-Risk Corridor in the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, meaning that it may be more likely to see crashes in the future due to a combination of physical and demographic characteristics. The westbound approach has a single combined though and right turn lane, while the eastbound approach has a dedicated through lane and a dedicated left turn lane.
Countermeasures
Given that the number of cars on the corridor has cratered, a warrant study should be conducted to see if the dedicated turn lanes are necessary. If not, they could be removed, and curb extensions could be installed, increasing pedestrian visibility and decreasing street crossing time, improving safety outcomes. If they are considered necessary, safety could still be improved by putting in a raised intersection to slow cars down as they cross it. There is a legitimate concern that making changes to the intersection could slow down emergency room response times, so that should be included in the warrant study, but it is unlikely that the few additional seconds would be critical when weighed against a safer intersection. Other alternatives could also be considered, such as using directional signage to encourage accessing 44th Street via Post Street to avoid traffic delays on Penn Avenue.
Contacts
DOMI takes traffic calming requests here. For political support, contact Mayor Ed Gainey’s office on this website or at (412) 255-2626, and Councilwoman Deb Gross’ office at (412) 255-2140 or district7@pittsburghpa.gov.