The Shiloh Grill on Shiloh Street in Mount Washington has 16 beers on tap, indoor and outdoor seating and, on Tuesdays, the powerful lure of free bacon.
Business has increased steadily since the restaurant opened in 2010, said manager Jeron Sedlock. But the restaurant and other businesses face some tough sledding come Tuesday, when Port Authority closes the Monongahela Incline for an estimated 12 weeks of renovations.
“You can definitely notice a difference in our business when the incline’s not operating or the weather is bad,” Mr. Sedlock said. “Absolutely it affects business.”
While the restaurant has its regulars, it also attracts tourists who ride the incline to check out the view and wander over “for a quick bite and a beer,” he said.
The clientele at Eiseltown Flowers and Gifts down the street is more neighborhood residents than tourists, owner Darlene Lutheran said. She notices an increase in business in the afternoons as people commuting back from Downtown on the incline stop in to play the lottery or pick up newspapers or bouquets. “It definitely has an impact on the community,” she said.
The incline, whose lower station is across from Station Square, carries patrons to Grandview Avenue near the entrance to the Shiloh Street business district, a thriving corridor with several blocks of restaurants and shops.
The $3.5 million renovation project will replace the rails and safety cables and renovate the cars and stations on what the authority says is the oldest continuously operating funicular railway in the U.S. It opened in 1870 and has undergone four previous renovations.
Average weekday ridership last year was about 1,900, and patronage swells on weekends.
The authority will operate bus shuttles between the upper station and Station Square during construction. The shuttles will operate during the same hours as the incline and the fares will be the same as for incline rides, spokesman Jim Ritchie said.
Howard Todd, longtime owner of DiFiore’s Ice Cream Delite on Shiloh Street, said 90 percent of his business comes from tourists, and he doesn’t think visitors are going to opt for the thrill of a bus ride up to Mount Washington. “They’re going to go to the other incline,” he said.
He and Mr. Sedlock think the authority should have its shuttles stop at the Duquesne Incline, about a mile away from the Mon Incline, to bring its passengers to Shiloh Street. The Duquesne Incline serves an area of Mount Washington with mostly high-end restaurants while Shiloh appeals more to those “who want a burger rather than filet mignon,” Mr. Sedlock said.
The authority has had discussions with the Mount Washington Community Development Corp. about providing separate service between the two inclines but wants to be reimbursed for the added cost, Mr. Ritchie said. “We have a serious amount of detour costs [this year] and we’re straining our manpower as well.” As of Tuesday, no agreement had been reached.
The authority does not want to extend the Mon Incline shuttles to the other incline because that would add time to trips, inconveniencing those riders, Mr. Ritchie said.
The community group is advertising other options for reaching the neighborhood. The 40 Mount Washington bus stops at Shiloh and Virginia Avenue and can be boarded Downtown or on Grandview Avenue at the Duquesne Incline. But service is infrequent, operating at intervals of 40 minutes or more.
The transit agency made one concession to neighborhood interests, postponing the incline closure until after Labor Day. Laura Guralnick, economic development director of the Mount Washington Community Development Corp., had told the authority board that sales increase by 45 percent on holiday weekends.
The authority hopes to reopen the incline by Light Up Night in late November.
The incline closure is one of several changes to transit service that are coming next week. On Sunday, new schedules will take effect on 36 bus routes. The authority is extending four routes to serve areas currently without bus service: the Groveton section of Robinson, North Baldwin Borough, the Penn State-Allegheny campus in McKeesport and RIDC Park in O’Hara. Trips will be added to some routes that have experienced overcrowding.
Jon Schmitz: jschmitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868 or on Twitter @pgtraffic.
First Published: September 2, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
