With the exception of changes in the storefronts and the occassional repaving of the street surface, the look of Brookline Boulevard has remained essentially the same since 1966, when the trolley tracks that dissected the roadway were removed. After over 40 years, things will soon be changing as the Boulevard is scheduled for a major reconstruction project that will alter the look of our main thoroughfare.

The date for the project's beginning has been up in the air for several years, but the latest information indicates that sometime in the fall of 2011, our Boulevard will undergo a multi-million dollar transformation that will feature many modern amenities, yet preserve much of the current convenience of the heavily traveled roadway.

For the better part of a decade, the reconstruction project sat in political limbo. Design plans were introduced back in the spring of 2000. Funding was obtained by Representative Michael Diven in 2001. Since then, priorties shifted one way, then the other, while the Boulevard project took a back seat.

In late-2008, the South Pittsburgh Development Corporation, the Brookline Chamber of Commerce and the Brookline Area Community Council, stepped forward in a joint effort to resurrect the project, with help from Senator Wayne Fontana, Representative Chelsa Wagner, and Pat Hassett of the City of Pittsburgh.

An open meeting was held on May 5, 2009, where the residents and business owners of Brookline, had the opportunity to express their thoughts on the new Brookline Boulevard design plans. Subsequent meetings with the City of Pittsburgh, Maguire Group, and Baker Corporation got the project back on track.

The project consists of improvements to a 1/2 mile section of Brookline Boulevard from Pioneer Avenue to Starkamp Street. The proposed improvements include the following:
- Geometric improvements to the intersection of Brookline Boulevard and Pioneer Avenue.
- New curbs and sidewalks on both the residential and business side.
- Intersection improvements including bumpouts, new curb ramps, and new traffic signals.
- Mill and overlay of existing roadway pavement.
- New signing and pavement markings.
- New street lighting, parking meters and drainage inlets.
- New landscaping and streetscape.
- Conversion of parking on Chelton Avenue from angled to parallel.

The $5 million funding is in place and will be available in the fall of 2011. The final plans will be submitted in the summer of 2011. Groundbreaking should be no later than the fall of 2011. Construction should last one construction season.

Baker Corporation has been selected for the project. Environmental studies are completed. As a requirement of their contract, Baker Engineers will assign a project coordinator who will be contacting every business owner affected by the reconstruction, detailing their hours of operation, and coordinating issues and problems, while maintaining accessibility to their stores during the construction period.

The sketches below show the intersection of Pioneer Avenue and Brookline Boulevard before and after the reconstruction. There is also a before and after sketch of the Cannon area near Queensboro, and proposed sketches of the intersections of Flatbush and Stebbins Avenues. Included is a before and after rendition showing a ground level view of the Boulevard from near the intersection of Stebbins Avenue (near PNC Bank) looking westward towards Flatbush.

Thanks to Clay Fulton of the City Department of Planning and Engineering for this glimpse into the future.

* Last Modified - March 30, 2010 *