Editorial: North Shore Connector is a waste, but should be finished

There’s an old saying that states, ‘A boat is a hole in the water that you try to fill up with… There’s an old saying that states, ‘A boat is a hole in the water that you try to fill up with money.’ But in Pittsburgh’s case, that hole isn’t in the water, it’s beneath it. And instead of being a boat, it’s the North Shore Connector tunnel. The North Shore Connector project began as a proposed extension of the Downtown area’s T network to the North Shore area to make PNC Park, Heinz Field and a future casino easily accessible. The T, which is owned and operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, currently consists of 25 miles of light rail track throughout Downtown and the South Hills Village. When it was proposed in 2003, the tunnel project had an estimated cost of $362 million, according to the Associated Press. In order to complete the project, the Port Authority was awarded a federal grant to cover the costs, but the project has run severely over budget since original estimates were made. As it currently stands, the tunnel is 80 percent complete and approximately $118 million short of funding. Last week, Gov. Ed Rendell called the North Shore Connector ‘a tragic mistake.’ And for the most part, we have to agree. This project is a perfect example of useless infrastructure improvement. This extension of the T network would cover about 1.2 miles under the river itself, according to the Port Authority’s budget proposal for the project. But this is a distance already covered by numerous bridges, and the Port Authority’s own buses already run to the North Shore. And who ever said there was anything wrong with walking? Combine this with the fact that the North Shore Connector only runs between the North Shore and Downtown, and it’s hard to see any real use for the project. People will still have to get to the Downtown area in order to use the tunnel in the first place, so it doesn’t do much good for solving traffic or parking problems. It just moves them across the river. That said, because the project is already nearly finished, the Port Authority should make sure that it’s completed and used. As wasteful as the project is, it would be far more wasteful to leave it half-finished or to fill it back in again. In the future, though, perhaps the Port Authority could try to lobby for projects that are actually useful to the community as a whole. Pittsburgh’s public infrastructure is growing older and is in need of nearly constant repair. Just in the past few years, several of the area’s bridges have had to be closed for major repairs or replacement, such as the Birmingham and Fort Duquesne bridges. And because the Port Authority is already having trouble meeting its basic operating costs, adding large infrastructure additions and trying to build new ridership probably isn’t the best way to save money. The North Shore Connector is a disappointing project, and just because it needs to be completed doesn’t mean it should have been started in the first place. Hopefully the city’s authorities can remember that next time.