As dozens of people waited to catch buses downtown headed eastward on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Busway on Wednesday morning, officials unveiled $2.5 million in improvements to the Negley station.
New lighting and wooden benches were installed in the station in Shadyside, along with new bus shelters and signage reflecting the name change to “Pittsburgh Regional Transit.” The overall feel of the space is more welcoming to individuals who use it to commute, local officials said.
“What PRT has done today is make this [station] safe,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said during Wednesday’s grand reopening of the station. The project is the latest in a series of improvements planned throughout the PRT system.
John Tague, a PRT board member who uses an electric wheelchair, said it’s important that transit stations are not only more accessible for those with disabilities, but for all riders who use the system. The bus shelters can provide cover from rain for those who use power wheelchairs, Mr. Tague said.
“They’ve created a safer environment for our riders in general, specifically for riders with disabilities,” Mr. Tague said.
One of the more visible improvements was the walkway from South Negley Avenue to the station itself, which now includes solid concrete steps declining downward. Before those improvements, it was more treacherous, officials said.
“If you saw this ramp before the improvements, you were taking your life into your hands,” said Katharine Kelleman, CEO of Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, said that the improved station may help more people ride the system, getting people out of their cars and improving the city’s air quality.
With the improvements to the Negley station finished, improvements at the Herron Station on the busway and the Dormont Junction Station are part of a larger plan to update transit stations and conditions throughout the region.
First Published: June 28, 2023, 7:43 p.m.
Updated: June 28, 2023, 9:06 p.m.
