When White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced in May that the next G-20 Summit would be held in Pittsburgh, there was more than a few snickers from the White House Press Corp. And why not, what does anyone there know about finance and banking or surviving an economic downturn? After all, it is an area where people pay a fair market value for a house. How quaint!
The reason "City of Champions" was chosen by President Obama was due to the trips he made through the area during his 2008 presidential campaign. He saw how it had morphed from center of steel production to one with a more diversified economic base focused on bio-medical (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Western Pennsylvania Health System), financial (PNC Financial, Bank of New York/Mellon), and high-tech (Carnegie Mellon University) industries. Fortunately, the industrial fore-fathers of the city were not misers and gave back to their community in the form of institutions such as libraries and universities from which Pittsburgh could pull it self up by its bootstraps and start over.
Dignitaries began to arrive on Wednesday which prompted rolling roadblocks on the Parkway West between Pittsburgh International Airport and Downtown. The motorcades passed through the US 22/US 30-PA 60 interchange project, which is partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which was passed to dig (no pun intended) the country out of the global recession which would be discussed the following two days.
While the leaders of the 20 largest economies and the European Union were arriving, so were the protesters.
Members of Greenpeace repelled off the West End Bridge with a banner protesting the lack of attention paid to the environment by these leaders. Five others tried to do the same on the Fort Pitt Bridge, but were quickly apprehended. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl deputized 1,000 men and women from police departments as far away as Miami and as close as Johnstown, which in addition to National Guardsmen and state police troopers, made up a force of more than 3,000 officers.
The world's leaders had an easier time getting around the city than the denizens. Only residents, with a driver's license with proof of a Downtown address, delivery trucks (with deliveries made between 5 AM and 7 AM), taxis, hotel shuttles, armored cars, ACCESS vehicles, and medical suppliers were allowed into the Golden Triangle. Three police checkpoints were established on the Smithfield Street Bridge at PA 837/West Carson Street, Fifth Avenue at Ross Street, and the Roberto Clemente Bridge and Isabella Street but motorists could exit anywhere. Ramps from I-279, I-376, and I-579 and other bridges and street were barricaded.
The two-day summit went off without a hitch, and Pittsburgh was able to do something no other city could: host a bloodless G-20. Police arrested only 193 people, a few minor fires were reported, and some minor damage to stores occurred. Only about 5,000 protesters came which were outnumbered by the nearly 6,000 law enforcement personnel. Needless to say crime dropped steeply, as did the need for paramedics which for times every ambulance in the city was idle. Perhaps the most surprising was the thousands of police vehicles, being driven by mostly out-of-towners, managed to navigate the labyrinthine of city streets without a single accident.
VisitPittsburgh hopes that the G-20 Summit helps tourism and attracting conventions. The city was awarded another international gathering not long after the conclusion of the summit. Pittsburgh will be the North American host city for the 2010 United Nations World Environment Day. Perhaps the highest praise came from the Italian-born songwriter, singer, former model, and current French First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy who said, "I think I wish I could stay a little longer because we only stay one-and-a-half days," and added "But I think it's beautiful." I don't think VisitPittsburgh could have asked for a better spokeswoman.
I am trying to understand the reasoning of extending I-376. I am against this change aside from the fact that it creates needless work for me by having to change pages and delete some.
Don't get me wrong, I am for the upgrades of the Parkway West that are included in the extension plan such as the 60 cloverleaf in Robinson. What I do not understand is the "logic" behind this renumbering.
Pittsburgh International Airport is not on an Interstate
As US Representative Melissa Hart said in a WTAE-TV Pittsburgh report in October, "We have the only international airport not served by an Interstate." Obviously she forgot about Dulles International right outside the capital, or George Bush/Houston Intercontinental, or LaGuardia International, should I go on? It is not as if USAirways "de-hubbed" Pittsburgh International because it wasn't connected directly to an Interstate. If they wait long enough, the PTC might get I-576 for the Southern Beltway which will end right at the PIA interchange on 60.
US Senator Rick Santorum said, "People from outside the regional will know this is no dirt road." An exaggeration, but no matter what map you look at, it shows expressway-grade highways around the airport.
If you sign it, they will come
Some also think that placing a red-white-blue shield on an expressway automatically brings economic growth faster than a plain, boring old black and white shield. As if the Interstate fairy comes by and brings jobs overnight, ignoring the business climate of the region. Sally Haas, President of the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce was quoted in the March 21, 2006 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review as saying, "Having that designation is critical for getting us on the map outside the Pittsburgh region. That's the thing that attracts developers here."
We are already on the map, any of which can be purchased in the Pennsylvania Highways Map Store. I guess since there was no Interstate designation on the Parkway, the development at the 60 cloverleaf just happened by coincidence.
Easier to get to Downtown
Another reason I have heard is that it will be easier for travelers leaving the airport to get to downtown. To leave the airport, you have two options: Beaver/Moon and Pittsburgh. If you follow the signs for Pittsburgh, and don't take any exits, you'll wind up in downtown whether its PA 60, US 22/US 30, I-279, or I-376.
Instead of the money that will go into replacing all of the signage, I'd rather it go to fix some of the 47% of structurally deficient bridges across the state. Or else we'll see more failures such as the Lake View Drive overpass on I-70, and next time, the outcome might be worse.
