Project to better connect Pittsburgh's Larimer neighborhood to Bakery Square

Local leaders announced the start of construction of a multi-modal corridor that will better connect the Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods of Larimer and Homewood with the Bakery Square development and shopping district.

The $4.5 million project, called the Larimer-Homewood Connector, will include a tree-lined road complete with a pedestrian walk, bike lanes, and rain gardens.

Eventually, the project will include a pedestrian bridge that will connect Bakery Square to Hamilton Street in Larimer, near the intersection of Putnam Street.

Walnut Capital is the developer of Bakery Square. Its CEO Gregg Perelman said that the Larimer community has been adamant about wanting the neighborhood connected to Bakery Square, which is home to restaurants, shops, a public square, housing, and offices including Google.

“All residents deserve the dignity to be connected and as a neighborhood developer we commit to leveraging our investments to fund more equitable connections so that all people have safe and pleasant access to groceries, parks and most importantly - jobs,” said Perelman.

The connector is funded through Bakery Square’s participation in the East Liberty Transit Revitalization Investment District and a multi-modal transportation grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

According to a press release, tax revenues for Bakery Square exceeded $4 million last year, largely from development that has come to the area over the years.

The Larimer-Homewood Connector will convert an abandoned railway. The 1.5 mile long corridor includes a 6-foot-wide sidewalk and an 8-foot-wide, two-way protected bike lane. A landscape meadow buffers the sidewalk from the road, and rain garden features are meant to absorb stormwater.

The corridor attaches to the intersection of McPherson Boulevard and Fifth Avenue on the eastern edge, and East Liberty Boulevard and Dahlem Place on its western edge.

The first phase of the connector includes the multi-modal corridor that stretches east-west. The second part of the plan will construct the pedestrian bridge over the East Busway and onto Hamilton Avenue, and that will cost $25 million.

Donna Jackson, executive director of the Larimer Consensus Group, praised the corridor project, but added that she hopes it will be a first step in more investment for the area.

“Today’s a day to celebrate this tremendous success in breaking down barriers, but we must keep working hard to deliver more connections, because one road isn’t going to solve 50 plus years of infrastructure disinvestment,” said Jackson.