A plan to reduce part of Penn Avenue from two lanes of traffic to one is moving forward, with what business owners and pedestrian and bike safety advocates say isn’t necessarily either side’s first choice but feels like a compromise.”Simply reducing the number of lanes a pedestrian has to cross makes it safer for a pedestrian, unsurprisingly,” said Eric Boerer, advocacy director of Bike Pittsburgh.Boerer said safety wins remain in a new plan for right-sizing a nine-block stretch of Penn Avenue between 31st and 22nd streets in the Strip District.The plan, proposed by the city of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, will remove one lane of traffic on Penn Avenue and add an inbound painted bike lane.“It was going to be what’s called a parking-protected bike lane, so they were going to move the parking lane out, and then the bike lane would be in between the parking lane and the sidewalk. That’s no longer the case,” Boerer said. “The city has revised their design, so it’s just going to be a standard bike lane like you see all over the city.”The changes come after a group of business owners filed a lawsuit against the city and DOMI that sought to stop the project.“The reason that we filed the injunction was because we felt that we wasn’t heard,” said Jim Coen, owner of Yinzers in the Burgh.On concerns about losing a lane of traffic and keeping room for first responders, Coen said, “If we didn’t get an extra five feet, a fire truck can’t get through, it could be bad.”DOMI said the revised final design “ensures our first responders have the same roadway access as existing conditions.”“The new proposal that they gave us — there’s some flaws in it. We’re not 100% happy with it,” Coen said. “But we feel that it’s better than it was.”DOMI has not yet set a start date for the project.

PITTSBURGH —

A plan to reduce part of Penn Avenue from two lanes of traffic to one is moving forward, with what business owners and pedestrian and bike safety advocates say isn’t necessarily either side’s first choice but feels like a compromise.

“Simply reducing the number of lanes a pedestrian has to cross makes it safer for a pedestrian, unsurprisingly,” said Eric Boerer, advocacy director of Bike Pittsburgh.

Boerer said safety wins remain in a new plan for right-sizing a nine-block stretch of Penn Avenue between 31st and 22nd streets in the Strip District.

The plan, proposed by the city of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, will remove one lane of traffic on Penn Avenue and add an inbound painted bike lane.

“It was going to be what’s called a parking-protected bike lane, so they were going to move the parking lane out, and then the bike lane would be in between the parking lane and the sidewalk. That’s no longer the case,” Boerer said. “The city has revised their design, so it’s just going to be a standard bike lane like you see all over the city.”

The changes come after a group of business owners filed a lawsuit against the city and DOMI that sought to stop the project.

“The reason that we filed the injunction was because we felt that we wasn’t heard,” said Jim Coen, owner of Yinzers in the Burgh.

On concerns about losing a lane of traffic and keeping room for first responders, Coen said, “If we didn’t get an extra five feet, a fire truck can’t get through, it could be bad.”

DOMI said the revised final design “ensures our first responders have the same roadway access as existing conditions.”

“The new proposal that they gave us — there’s some flaws in it. We’re not 100% happy with it,” Coen said. “But we feel that it’s better than it was.”

DOMI has not yet set a start date for the project.