Development & Transportation

Pennsylvania's highest court is upholding a $3.2 million verdict in favor of a whistleblower fired after exposing waste and wrongdoing in Pennsylvania Turnpike contracts, hiring practices and E-ZPass discounts for large trucking firms.

The state Supreme Court said Tuesday Pennsylvania's Whistleblower Law allows judgments for non-economic damages in matters that cause embarrassment, humiliation, reputational damage and mental anguish.

Katharine Kelleman started work as Port Authority’s chief executive the first week of January, but she began immersing herself in the system well before. 

Uber’s self-driving car operations remain on pause while authorities in Arizona investigate the fatal crash that occurred in Tempe last week. One of the company’s vehicles was in autonomous mode when it struck and killed a woman. Pittsburgh is one of four sites—along with Tempe, San Francisco and Toronto—where Uber tests its autonomous technology.

It’s going to be a very busy construction season for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. By the end of 2018, the authority must replace 2,100 lead service lines and aims to conduct 15,000 curb box inspections.

People packed a church hall Wednesday night to demand affordable housing be built on the former Penn Plaza site in East Liberty, owned by LG Realty Advisors. 

Uber's self-driving car operations in multiple cities, including Pittsburgh, have been suspended after a woman was killed in Arizona. 

A federal grant program expected to be a critical funding source for Pittsburgh’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, could disappear.  

Last week, a partially-constructed pedestrian bridge collapsed in Miami, Florida, killing six people and sending more to the hospital. The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of investigators to the site to figure out what happened.

Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning writes on its website that South Side Park is unique and hidden, which essentially translates as “hard to get to.”

A mayoral panel appointed to oversee the restructuring of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has drafted a new contract to govern PWSA. 

The first of two community meetings on the initial plan for the roughly 9-acre site will be held the evening of Wednesday, March 21 at Eastminster Church. The second is scheduled for Monday, April 16 at the same location.

After a months-long volley of information, Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning determined in February that the developer’s preliminary plan was complete. The land is owned by LG Realty Advisors, Inc.

Company president Lawrence Gumberg said last month they were eager to hear from the community.

Normally, playing on a highway is a bad idea, but a project to physically reconnect Pittsburgh’s Hill District to Downtown will soon install a walkable, bikeable park overtop the I-579 / Crosstown Boulevard Corridor. 

The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports and Exhibition Authority is spearheading the I-579 “Cap” Urban Connector Project. It will erase a significant barrier in the city, said executive director Mary Conturo.

A Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT system has been in the works in one form or another for more than a decade in Pittsburgh. It has been hailed as a way to make public transportation more efficient and more appealing, as well as a means to support economic growth in the region.

Some tenants who receive housing assistance in Pittsburgh could be eligible to live in better neighborhoods because of a new system expected to be implemented April 1.

More than 5,200 households in Pittsburgh currently use housing vouchers, which subsidize rent for privately owned rental units. Another 2,500 households are on a waiting list for the program.

The authority is holding two public hearings on the changes at noon and 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at 200 Ross St. in Pittsburgh.

The board of Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority voted Thursday to approve a deal for the redevelopment of the Produce Terminal in the Strip District. The vote cleared the way for developer McCaffery Interests to take a long-term lease on the building.

Another hospital expansion in the Pittsburgh region was announced Wednesday.

Allegheny Health Network will construct an $80 million, 90,000-square-foot cancer institute and academic center adjacent to the North Side Allegheny General Hospital. It is part of the $225 million investment the network has made in regional cancer centers.

“We have 15 major construction projects happening today simultaneously across the region. Many of those that relate to cancer,” said Highmark Health CEO David Holmberg.

A contract to redevelop the Strip District’s Produce Terminal building is close to being finalized, city officials said Wednesday.

Dan Gilman, the mayor’s chief of staff, said it’s a complex deal but the parties were working through some critical final details with developer Dan McCaffery of McCaffery Interests.

“And Dan has to get his numbers to work,” Gilman said. “We’re asking for a significant investment of his money and the public’s money into this.”

The project is expected to cost $62.6 million.

The Pittsburgh Planning Commission voted on Tuesday to positively recommend a new Riverfront Zoning plan to City Council for its consideration.

Pennsylvania is taking ride-hailing company Uber to court. A lawsuit filed Monday alleges Uber broke two state laws and compromised the identities of thousands of Pennsylvanians.

Commercial and recreational boat traffic on the Ohio River will be considerably slower until June. Starting Tuesday, the primary lock chambers on the Emsworth and Dashields Locks and Dams will be closed for repairs, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Developers will soon be asked to propose projects for a site in Pittsburgh’s EcoInnovation District, which covers Uptown and West Oakland. The 1.8-acre parcel at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Dinwiddie Street is owned by the city and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

It’s the first project for which a request for proposals will be issued under the recently adopted neighborhood plan, said Project Manager Derek Dauphin.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced Friday morning that his office will review the effectiveness of hiring practices at the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC) and analyze the authority’s service. DePasquale said now is an ideal time for a performance audit.

“If we’re going to be competitive in this region economically, having a vibrant Port Authority is critical to meet those needs.”

After a months-long volley of information, Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning has determined that a preliminary plan to develop the former Penn Plaza site in East Liberty is complete.

The City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are appealing a decision from Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records, which on Jan. 24 ordered them to release their proposal to become Amazon’s second headquarters, or HQ2. 

A decision on the future of Pittsburgh’s riverfronts has been delayed. The Pittsburgh Planning Commission will wait two weeks to vote on proposed zoning changes due to concerns raised by developers and others.

Environmental advocacy group PennEnvironment believes Pittsburgh should be doing more to encourage greater use of electric vehicles. A newly released policy guide calls on the city to introduce additional charging stations on streets and in parking structures.

The group predicts that 9,000 electric vehicles will be on Pittsburgh's roads by 2030, kickstarting the need for EV-friendly policies.

The Department of City Planning is reviewing a development plan for the former Penn Plaza site in East Liberty. It's the third version of the Pennley Park South plan to be submitted by owner LG Realty Advisors, Inc.