Pittsburgh gets grant to deck part of 579

[ARMOURERERIC]

$27 million to cover Crosstown Blvd between Centre and Bigelow.  Will take 2 years.

[rickmastfan67]

http://www.wtae.com/news/plans-to-build-a-park-of-i579-to-create-a-bridge-between-hill-district-downtown-move-forward/40898086
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2016/07/29/Feds-announce-19-million-grant-for-Hill-District-Downtown-project-pittsburgh-penguins/stories/201607290199

[Duke87]

Geometrically, it's a convenient little one block stretch of below grade freeway that almost screams "cap me!" if you're looking for easy opportunities for such things.

One oddity I note about this particular location is that directly to the east of it is a huge sea of parking lots, not exactly the greatest elements of urban fabric. But, nonetheless, a cap would improve the pedestrian experience without negatively impacting any other users, so there are no losers in this proposal, the only cost is money.

Also, one may presume the presence of a cap might create an impetus to redevelop those parking lots into something more attractive.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Those parking lots to the east already are to become something more, it is part of the old civic arena site that is planned to kinda be a high density extension of downtown.