Swissvale Business District Streetscape Blossoming Soon
Washington Avenue again is the focus of Swissvale’s business community as a streetscape program to add essentially decorative touches along most of Washington.
Did you know that until a century ago there were two Swissvales? The western portion, centered on Monongahela Avenue, and the eastern section, based on Noble Street, were separated by the railroad tracks. You could get from one side to the other all right, by walking, giddying-upping your horse or driving your motorcar across the grading that crossed the tracks, but it was a risky business. In those days, there were a lot of trains. Then, in 1907, a two-lane bridge was built to extend Washington Avenue above the tracks to join Monongahela and Noble, and a cohesive “downtown Swissvale” was created. It’s not much of a bridge, even by 1907 standards, only about 100 feet long and built with simple beam construction. Still, it’s done the job of…
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William McCloskey
8:37 am on Monday, September 24, 2012
... the appearance of the bridge is odd and it's not even obvious that it IS a bridge when viewed from the surface. Todd Anderson is correct that some vertical element would better define and adorn the bridge, and distract from the horrendous Filmet building, that is the very definition of visual blight right there at the highest, most visible point of Washington. more ›