The Newtown Pentacle

Thursday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Continuing with photos from a recent scuttle down Pittsburgh’s West Liberty Avenue/ U.S. Route 19 Truck.

This is just a short section of 19, incidentally, as it continues both north and south, towards and into other municipalities and even counties where it’s labeled with different local street names. Just a couple of miles away in Mount Lebanon, for instance, it’s ‘Washington Road,’ and in the northerly direction it’s called ‘McKnight Road.’ The latter is a pesky traffic snare surrounded by shopping malls, and the locals refer to it as ‘McKnightmare Road.’

Supposedly the best spot in Pittsburgh for a good public cry is an Arby’s on McKnight, according to a Reddit poll. But, I digress.

With my car in the shop for its maintenance and inspection, the pathway back home after this walk concluded would involve connecting with the T light rail. There’s a particular station, nearby the Liberty Tunnel and found at the end of this section of Route 19, which has been catching my eye while riding on the service. That’s where I was headed.

There were other T stops along my path, of course, but I’d have to climb the steep hills of the Beechview section to get up there.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

The shot above looks up and into the Beechview section, specifically Brookside Avenue (right about here on Google Maps), and gives you an idea about why the thought of climbing those hills on foot fills one with dread. The light began to improve, and your humble narrator got busy by getting the camera’s clicking and whirring.

As is usually the case, I was the singular pedestrian.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Amazingly, there are private homes set along the slopes. The one above had a set of steps descending to West Liberty Avenue, and another that led to what looked like a driveway or alley. Wow. This is a very busy road to live along, by Pittsburgh standard.

The PA. Dept. of Transportation calls itself ‘PennDOT.’ West Liberty is ‘theirs’ to administer. According to the agency, via Google’s AI:

‘PennDOT data shows West Liberty Avenue (SR 3069) in Pittsburgh carries over 20,000 vehicles daily, with specific counts available through PennDOT OneMap (using the Allegheny County Traffic Volume Map for general figures) or by accessing their GIS portal for detailed data points on this principal arterial, a key route connecting Dormont and Pittsburgh with significant commercial activity. 

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Finally, arriving at the ‘business end’ of West Liberty Avenue, where a sharp left turn orients motorists towards the Liberty Tunnel interchange.

The ramp leading off the roadway on the left is the entrance to the Southern Busway. More on that one in a later posting.

The landform in the background is ‘the ass side’ of Mount Washington.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

There’s a startling amount of infrastructure present in these shots. The green steel causeway is another section of the busway structure, and just below that is a rail trestle used by the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR outfit. Below that, the two primary arterial roadways of ‘51’ and ‘19’ interchange with the tunnel and a series of local streets, leading to secondary arterials.

Honestly, given that I’m usually motoring through here at 30mph or so, this is the first time that I’ve actually been able to stand, study, and stare at the scene. For all of you New Yorkers, an analogy would be to go to Queens Plaza and just stand there watching it all work.

Fascinating, says me.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

That’s the aforementioned 1924 vintage Liberty Tunnel, pictured above. It connects, on the Monongahela River side, to the Liberty Bridge.

Me? I had to get across this crazy street. This should answer a riddle, since – ultimately – I needed to get to the other side. That’s why this chicken crossed the street, so parable solved.

Back tomorrow.

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