I continue to dream of trolley service along the Allegheny. With Consumer Fresh Produce moving<\/a> and thus eliminating the need for periodic trains along Allegheny Valley Railroad\u2019s Strip District trackage, the possibility of a Railroad St. transit line feels closer than ever.<\/p>\n That said, I see two major obstacles. The first is the difficulty of bridging service from existing T lines. A flyover or tunnel underneath the former Penn Station or the trunk line separating the Strip from Polish Hill is probably a nonstarter in the current fiscal environment. Having a physical separation would also drastically limit my hypothetical Black Line<\/a>\u2019s utility.<\/p>\n The second obstacle is actually a good thing: T expansion along Pa. Route 65 could actually happen as part of the Esplanade Development, which, after years of discussion, has finally broken ground<\/a>. As a Transit Revitalization Investment District (or TRID), the Esplanade will include funding<\/a> for studies that could see 65 overhauled as a trolley corridor. If nothing else, that\u2019s an important first step toward service expansion in the future.<\/p>\n If the anonymous buyer<\/a> who purchased the former Wabash Bridge piers in 2023 is reading this, I have a pitch for you: your unusual acquisition is the perfect spot for an aerial tramway to Mt. Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the finished product would require some cooperation from the owners of 11 Stanwix, the Wabash pier on the southern side is adjacent to a parking lot, and, at the crest of Mt. Washington at a convenient angle for a cable car station, there is \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 also a parking lot that was once supposed to become the site of a St. Mary of the Mount community center. So, mystery buyer, hear my plea: it\u2019s time for a cable car.<\/p>\n I continue to believe firmly in the utility of roundabouts. In the year and a half since my initial call for more of them, I identified Bigelow Blvd., Penn and Fifth Avenues, and the Bloomfield Bridge as strong candidates for roundabouts, and my experience as a driver has strengthened my belief that these three intersections would be dramatically improved by them.<\/p>\n Washington County drivers have proven themselves capable of handling roundabouts and diverging diamond interchanges<\/a>, so I believe in battle-scarred Pittsburgh drivers\u2019 ability to handle a few more roundabouts in place of traffic lights.<\/p>\n Transit Talk has mainly been a vehicle for hyperlocal transit ideas, but, on the national front, there\u2019s also cause for optimism \u2014 Amtrak saw record ridership and revenue<\/a> this past fiscal year. In Pittsburgh, however, Amtrak passengers must use our unsightly \u201cAmshack\u201d<\/a> instead of the grand former Penn Station building. The last time I passed through the station, there was raw sewage coming through a floor drain. No joke, I\u2019ve had better rail travel experiences in rural Ukraine.<\/p>\n As the federal service prepares for renovations<\/a> in Greensburg and Latrobe, I\u2019ll add my voice to the chorus hoping for a better station experience here in Pittsburgh in the not-too-distant future. We have the bones of a railroad city but the facilities of a backwater town. If we deserved our grand new airport<\/a>, then we surely deserve an upgraded train station.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Wabash-Cable-Car.png\")
The route of a hypothetical Wabash Cable Car Credit: Colin Williams<\/p>\n