Trip #86 Kent Way to Duncan Street, Upper Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh took place on December 4, 2017, and was published on January 24, 2018.
Here’s another mystery flight that appears to have gone missing. According to the city stairways list, there should be 163 steps connecting Kent Way to Duncan Street in Lawrenceville. That’s a pretty sizeable flight of stairs, not something easily overlooked! But the old-timer who lives at the top of 54th, the one who puts pumpkins out for the deer, says in all his life he’s never seen stairs in that area of the neighborhood. Maybe the steps came and went before the old-timer arrived in the neighborhood (he’s not THAT old if you know what I mean), or maybe they were all going to be built but weren’t. All I know is that behind this fence there’s something that looks like a flight of city stairs. But this is private property so I’ll have to leave it at that.
Field Notes: Another mystery. 163 steps is a hard sight to miss and both walking around and Google Maps street view showed nothing that would have connected Duncan Street to Kent Way. One would think these to be sidewalk steps that went the length of a full block or more. This is one for the historical maps to answer!
Update: Well, I found out what happened to the Kent Way / Duncan Street stairs! They’ve been replaced by a sidewalk! Before and after images, which I found using Community Walk and Google Maps street view, can be found on the Mis.Steps Flickr page. Based on a comment made back in 2011 on the Community Walk site, the flight was in serious disrepair.
See the Risograph print of this photo and story in the Mis.Steps Shop.
Be a good neighbor! Have you visited these stairs and found them in poor condition or that illegal dumping (large items like tires, old furniture, and construction debris) and trash were abundant in the area? There are two things you can do to take action and make our city steps cleaner and safer for everyone! First, grab a photo if you can, and submit a report to Pittsburgh 311. All problems, both broken stairs, and railings, as well as trash and dumping, should be reported to the city. You can easily do this online or by calling. If the location has an abundance of illegal dumping and trash, also contact Allegheny Cleanways, letting them know the location and the nature of the garbage. Thank you!!
