Pittsburgh launches pilot program to clean staircases across the city
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Steel City could easily be called the "Steps City" because it boasts more public staircases than any other city in the US.
According to the city of Pittsburgh's Citywide Step Assessment from 2018, Pittsburgh has approximately 800 sets of stairs that contain some 45,000 individual steps, all of which traverse our many neighborhoods and hills, and some of them need a little love.
While the city's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure does major repairs as needed, stepping up to help these steps on a smaller level is the non-profit organization Allegheny CleanWays.
It is spearheading a pilot step adoption program with other local non-profit organizations, the Garden Club of Allegheny County and Landforce, to keep five stairways clean and passible.
"We selected five sets of steps on the North Side that needed improvements and just general maintenance," said Caily Grube, the executive director of Allegheny CleanWays. "And they were picked based on data, looking at usage, proximity to bus stops, the residential areas that they are located in, as well as how close they were to existing dump sites that Allegheny CleanWays was already working on."
These five stairways are located at: Arch Street (Central Northside/Perry South), Kenwood Avenue (Perry South), Basin Street (Troy Hill/Spring Garden), Arcola Way (Spring Hill/Spring Garden) and Carrie Street (Fineview).
Right now, this program is looking for stewards to take on one of these five stairways and come out, once a month, to help with things like trash cleanup. All clean-up equipment and trash pickups will be facilitated by CleanWays, but these stewards will also act as the first line of defense for reporting major structural issues on these stairs to the city.
"We have been excited to see the interest from volunteers already, and we hope to maintain that interest," Grube said. "And that we can then build it into a larger more sustainable program that can potentially move into additional neighborhoods beyond the North Side."
If you are interested in volunteering to keep one of these staircases clean, you can get involved by clicking here. And if you would like to know more about the Citywide Step Assessment, click here.