North Hills Flashback: Revisiting Potential McKnight Upgrades Circa 1988

After a two-week hiatus, North Hills Flashback returns! The past two weeks have been eventful for me, as I have moved from Pittsburgh to the Charlotte metro area, where I will be working as a first grade teacher. However, as promised, I will continue this column on the history of my hometown. Now that I have settled in, expect to see North Hills Flashback on a weekly basis once again.

This week’s column is somewhat different than what I’ve written in the past. Instead of focusing on a business or landmark, this edition of North Hills Flashback will examine a series of proposals from 1988 regarding McKnight Road traffic. The ideas are from an article in the Pittsburgh Press on February 24, 1988. Written by David Guenther, the article was entitled “Turning Lanes, Access Roads Advised in Mcknight Report” and was printed on page N6.

In many ways, the McKnight Road of 1988 was quite similar to the McKnight Road of today. Traffic headaches were a daily occurrence. Everyone had some idea as to how they could be fixed, from the civil engineers to everyday commuters. Over the past 24 years, plenty of change has indeed taken place. Ross Park Mall was still a new entity and was only about a year and a half old at the time the article was written. Interstate 279 had yet to open; East Street was still the route of choice for those headed downtown from the McKnight corridor. Plenty of businesses have come and gone, McIntyre Square was constructed, North Hills Village Mall transformed back into a strip mall, and Northway Mall collapsed into a state of near death on two occasions. Only a few things have actually changed along the road itself in terms of traffic management. The ancient Econolite signals hanging on at some of the intersections, for example, were replaced in 2010. Still, if you left Pittsburgh on the morning of February 24, 1988 and returned today, you’d find driving along McKnight Road to be a nearly identical experience to what it was when you left town.

Let’s take a look at each proposal mentioned in the article and how it would have worked. We’ll then examine it from a 2012 perspective. Keep in mind several of these proposals would have required extensive road work and, if all were done, would have taken until around 1993 to complete.

1. Conversion of a through-traffic lane on southbound McKnight Road at Ross Park Mall Drive to a turning lane, creating a second left turn lane between the hours of 3PM and 7PM daily.

The first proposal on the list actually was completed later in 1988 with some help from Simon Property Group. Installed in time for the holiday shopping season, the left lane of southbound McKnight has indeed required traffic to turn left during certain hours of the day for nearly 24 years. This has helped ease traffic significantly and evened out the number of turning lanes for southbound travelers. Northbound shoppers have always had the option of using Old McKnight Road, Patrick Place (Kinvara Drive until early 1987), and Ross Park Mall Drive. Northbound travelers have never had much of a problem entering the mall (save for backups at some of the stop signs, especially at Old McKnight and Cheryl Drive), but the Old McKnight entrance has always been inaccessible to southbound traffic. Prior to late 1988, the only ways into the mall while headed south were making left turns at Ross Park Mall Drive (which tended to back up quite easily) or Patrick Place (an intersection not designed for the amount of traffic the mall brought). Adding a second turning lane eliminated much of the congestion caused by bottlenecks at the Ross Park Mall Drive intersection. The hours of operation have changed from the original proposal (the lane turns into a left turn lane around the time the mall opens every day) although the concept has remained the same. This was a great move in 1988 and continues to be a wise choice to this day.

2. Revision of westbound mall exits on Patrick Place to create the following: a left turn lane, a through-traffic left turn lane, and a through-traffic right turn lane.

Today’s westbound Patrick Place lanes are as follows: a left turn lane, a through-traffic lane permitting both left and right turns, and a right turn lane. Only one lane is through-traffic, which has actually worked quite well. At the time, two through-traffic lanes made sense. Ross Towne Center was known as Zayre Plaza at the time and was a far more popular shopping destination. Between Zayre, Phar-Mor, Children’s Palace, the smaller shops in the plaza, Denny’s, and Wendy’s, Zayre Plaza took in a significant volume of traffic. Office Depot would open not long after the proposals were made. By the end of 1992, Zayre had departed and had been replaced by Freight Liquidators, a moderately successful yet never terribly crowded furniture store. Phar-Mor moved to McIntyre Square, Children’s Palace ceased operations, and even a great restaurant called The Italian Oven couldn’t bring in the same sort of traffic as the 1980s lineup did. In the end, having just one through traffic lane wound up being the best move, especially with the middle lane permitting turns in either direction (great for clearing out shoppers wishing to travel north on McKnight Road). Time will tell if the addition of the two new grocery stores in Ross Towne Center will increase westbound Patrick Place traffic volume significantly. If this happens, perhaps this proposal will find its way back to the table once again.

3. Addition of a left turn lane to the exit (eastbound) of Zayre Plaza/Ross Towne Center.

This would have created a third lane at the exit of the then-popular shopping plaza.  Two lanes would have permitted left turns. The likely situation would have involved a right turn lane being added, with the middle lane (formerly the right lane) becoming the left/through traffic lane. To this day, there are only two lanes at this approach. One permits left turns while the other allows traffic to continue eastbound onto Patrick Place or turn right. This proposal likely died with Zayre itself, as nothing quite as popular ever replaced it. Again, this could come up again if Bottom Dollar and/or Valu-King prove to be hugely successful. (In fact, if the grocery stores do create significant backup, I’d say this proposal would make perfect sense and should be enacted).

4. Creation of a through traffic left and through traffic right lane at McKnight and Siebert, headed east.

Geographically, this would have been a nearly impossible procedure and would have required a second lane to be added on Siebert east of McKnight. A significant portion of the McKnight-Siebert Shopping Center parking lot would have been lost to this expansion if it had indeed taken place. The northbound approach to Siebert Road would have also needed significant revision, with part of a parking lot being taken out as a result. (The marker along McKnight Road would have also likely been moved). The current configuration does indeed back up at times, but isn’t a huge concern for travelers. (The left lane is for left turns only, the center lane permits through traffic and left turns, and the right lane allows only right turns). This would have been a nightmare for businesses in the area if it had indeed gone through.

5. Creation of a wider westbound approach of Siebert Road at McKnight and permit right turns from the through-traffic only lane.

The revision to this lane ultimately created two left turn lanes. Although right turn traffic continues to back up from time to time, the addition of a second right turn lane probably would have been somewhat unnecessary. The dual left turn lanes wound up being the best move in the long run thanks to Interstate 279, giving Berkeley Hills traffic a non-congested alternative to the old Thompson Run-Babcock route into town.

6. A proposal to consolidate and eliminate driveways along McKnight Road.

We’ve all been through it. We’re driving down McKnight, minding our business, and suddenly some guy jams on the brakes because he wants to make a sharp right turn into Wendy’s. If the stars aren’t aligned properly, there will also be a multi-vehicle accident as a result of someone eating a chicken sandwich, drinking coffee, having a serious conversation with their girlfriend on the phone, and jamming to One Direction in their car, all while forgetting about the guy with the intense hamburger craving in front of them. Presumably, major intersections would have become the gateway to businesses with McKnight Road driveways. In theory, this was a great idea. Implementing it would have caused a ton of groans from business owners, although this is something which should have happened. The above scenario is real and happens too often along McKnight.

7. Creation of a road derived from Kentzel Drive from Siebert to Zayre Plaza/Ross Towne Center.

This was another proposal which made perfect sense in 1988. Chi-Chi’s was a bustling business at the time. Zayre Plaza was at the height of its popularity. Expanding Kentzel Drive would have made access far easier for those coming from Babcock and other points west. There was also a separate proposal to add signals to the intersection of Siebert and Kentzel. This, however, seems like a horrible idea due to the layout of Siebert. Imagine bottlenecks extending to Babcock Boluevard due to traffic being backed up at this signal. The expansion of Kentzel has been revisited since 1988 due to the Wal-Mart which was planned for the old McCrackin Ford site. With that proposal on seemingly permanent hiatus, it seems unlikely Kentzel Drive will be expanded anytime soon.

8. Replacement of the left turn lanes on McKnight Road at Patrick Place (Zayre Plaza/Ross Towne Center) with jughandles.

It appears Old McKnight Road would have become part of the northbound jughandle, sending traffic along down Patrick Place into the plaza. A new road would have been constructed for southbound traffic. (For those unfamiliar with the word “jughandle”, McKnight Road has two: northbound at McIntyre Road for entrance to Northway Mall and southbound at Nelson Run Road). This proposal seems somewhat odd today, and not just due to the decline of the former Zayre Plaza. Northbound traffic would have become clogged quite easily, first at the stop sign at Cheryl Drive and subsequently at the intersection of Patrick Place. (Both are notorious bottlenecks during peak shopping times as-is and were just as bad 24 years ago). These roads would have needed to have been upgraded significantly to accommodate this traffic. The southbound approach makes about as much sense as the overpass proposed a few years later, which would have connected Babcock Boulevard and Ross Park Mall. In theory, it’s a concept which looks good on paper but is nonsensical when implementation is considered.

9. Creation of an intersection at Old McKnight, allowing for the construction of an access road to Zayre Plaza and points west.

A similar proposal came up once again when Wal-Mart was proposed five years ago. With Zayre as popular as it was, this would have been a great idea at the time. Should McCrackin Ford become something as bustling as a Wal-Mart, this could come up for a third time. We all know the third time is a charm. I personally think this is a great idea, both for those entering the mall and for the sake of future expansion and construction on the western side of McKnight Road. Again, if the two new grocery stores take off, this may become a necessity. 

(A third entrance for a mall is never a bad thing; Rock Hill Galleria in South Carolina is about half the size of Ross Park and has three entrances from Dave Lyle Boulevard, which I have yet to see congest as badly as McKnight Road; the intersections are also shared by plazas on the opposite side of the road, several big box stores, a handful of restaurants, three car dealerships, a few hotels, and an apartment complex. Granted, this area of Rock Hill isn’t as populated as the North Hills, but the area is near I-77 and was designed well and was clearly built with growth in mind.)

10. Construction of a road between McKnight Circle (the access road to Waldorf Park Apartments) and Browns Lane.

Presumably, this would have eased traffic on McKnight Road and also taken care of the lost driveways given in the set of proposals. The road would have probably gone behind McKnight Lanes (now Bed, Bath, and Beyond) and extended to behind Demor’s. This road only makes sense if the driveways are eliminated, as it would have added unnecessary congestion to both McKnight Circle and Browns Lane.

11. Construction of an extension of Browns Lane, connecting the road to Ross Park Mall Drive via the driveway at Hechinger/Shop n Save (now Home Depot).

The location of this proposed road is based on the map accompanying the article. This proposal seemed like a great idea in February 1988. However, the Woodhawk Club apartments were constructed the same year, killing this great idea to better connect the roadways around the mall and provide an additional entrance to Ross Park. Sure, apartments can be neatly tucked behind malls (I can think of at least a few good examples), but Pittsburgh’s geographic constraints and the plans of the developers of the Woodhawk Club would have likely made this an impossible construction. The outrage of other residential complexes over proposed access roads (namely, anyone along the Thompson Run corridor or Kinvara Drive) was probably another factor when deciding not to supplement the Woodhawk Club with an access road to the mall.

Of the above proposals, only one wound up seeing the light of day. Many made sense, a few seemed silly even in 1988, and plenty are still possibilities for 2012 and beyond. Only time will tell what will happen in the future, although if the past is any indication, McKnight Road will look and flow quite similar in 2036 to how it does now.

Any commentary on these proposals is welcome and encouraged. I’d love to hear the voices of the civil engineer wannabes out there who travel McKnight Road (and from any actual civil engineers, too).

NEXT WEEK: Branching out a bit from the Ross vicinity, we’ll flash back to simpler times in Cranberry and look at the now-defunct Cranberry Hall, a landmark until its closure in 1995.