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Pittsburgh City Council boosts homeless street outreach, advances $445K in Fern Hollow settlements, and weighs the cost of keeping its road data

City Council

Street outreach program looks at an $800,000 boost to reach more homeless residents.

ROOTS, a city outreach team, connects homeless residents with shelters and medical and mental health care. On June 17, council advanced an $800,000, one-year county contract to expand it. Currently, it runs weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with 16 staff. The money would add 10 staff and extend hours to 11 p.m. on weeknights, plus some weekend daytime coverage.

Written by Amy Whipple

A city program to help homeless residents obtain services may soon have its staffing increase by more than 60% which will allow for additional hours of services.

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) awarded the city’s Office of Community Health & Safety (OCHS) a one-year, $800,000 contract. The money will expand the Reaching Out On the Streets (ROOTS) homeless services and street outreach program.

ROOTS began in 2020 to address an excess of emergency calls on unhoused people who didn’t need police intervention. Ben Talik, ROOTS Program Manager, said at council’s June 17 committee meeting that the program can bring in medical and mental health providers, connect people to shelters and even assist with care and shelter for their pets. 

“The idea was making absolutely every service available to people as easily accessible as possible, so people weren’t walking throughout the entire county trying to find an available shelter space or find a doctor that would treat them,” he said.

Currently, ROOTS operates Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with 16 staff members. The money will allow OCHS to hire 10 new staff members and expand street assistance hours to 11 p.m. on weeknights and some daytime weekend coverage.

 Council Member Khari Mosley of Point Breeze said that social services provided by the city are limited due to state statutes. “[DHS is] really the partner that we have to lean on when we talk about these challenges that folks face in the neighborhoods around the city, and they call our offices wanting us to do something,” he said. 

Council voted to move forward with accepting the contract.

City Council

Nine people hurt in the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse may share $445,000.

The Fern Hollow Bridge had been federally listed in poor condition since 2011 before it collapsed in January 2022. Now, nine people who sued the city over the collapse may share $445,000 in settlements. Resolutions to approve the payments, from $40,000 to $90,000 each, were introduced in council June 16. A preliminary vote is scheduled for next week's committee meeting.

Written by Amy Whipple

More than four years after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed in Jan. 2022, nine people who filed lawsuits against the city may soon receive settlements totaling $445,000. 

Resolutions to approve the settlements were introduced at council’s general meeting on June 16. Individual settlements range from $40,000 to $90,000. If approved by council, the recipient of the largest payment would be Daryl Luciani, who was driving the county Port Authority bus that fell 100 feet into a ravine.

The bridge spans Fern Hollow in Frick Park, connecting Squirrel Hill to Point Breeze and Regent Square on Forbes Avenue; more than 14,000 vehicles cross it each day.

The lawsuits stated that the city had known for years about the 400-foot-long bridge’s deterioration. It had been listed on the federal National Bridge Inventory as being in poor condition since 2011.

Lawsuits were initially filed by 10 people. According to WTAE, council was advised not to comment on the tenth individual.

 As a matter of routine, council discusses litigation settlements in closed executive sessions. The members typically do not bring additional information into the public general and committee meetings.

The legislation is scheduled to be revisited for a preliminary vote at next week’s committee meeting.

City Council

Road scans save money on projects, but using the data costs $1,300 a month.

After paying nearly $770,000 to have its streets photographed and measured, the city still relies on the company to host the data. On June 17, council agreed to move forward with a three-year, $46,590 extension to keep access. The mobility director said the data lets some projects be done in-house. Still, a council member questioned paying for continued access.

Written by Amy Whipple

After paying nearly $770,000 for a company to photograph and measure city streets, the city is now looking at a 3-year, $46,590 subscription to use the data.

From 2020 to 2024, CycloMedia drove over about 1,553 miles of city streets to take 360° street‑level photos and used LiDAR, which is a laser technology, to measure the roadways.

Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) Director Jeff Skalican said at the June 17 committee meeting that the resulting data is primarily curb-to-curb measurements. Having the database allows inspections and projects, such as adding road bump outs, to be completed in-house rather than subcontracting outside engineers.

However, CycloMedia still hosts the imagery, LiDAR data and historical archives. DOMI requested council’s approval to pay $46,590 to extend the contract for another three years to continue access to the information. That will bring the total cost to $814,937.

Deb Gross of Highland Park said, “When we invest these kinds of significant funds, and yet we have to keep paying in order to continue access to either a platform or the data on a platform, etc. etc., I think it’s right for us to kind of maybe pause and question, ‘Is this the way? Are there any other options? Is this how every other city is doing it?’” 

Council agreed to move ahead with the contract extension.