June 2026 community meeting: Water advocacy group asks Hazelwood residents what they need | The Homepage

Also: Lewis Playground retaining wall repair underway; Elizabeth Bridge project starts in 2028

One child’s ideas for the new Lewis Playground. Screengrab from engage.pittsburghpa.gov/lewis

By Managing Editor Juliet Martinez

The June 16 Greater Hazelwood community meeting saw a slightly lower attendance than normal because it had been changed from its usual second-Tuesday date. On June 9, a public meeting took place focused on the Elizabeth Street bridge; participants on June 16 heard about that. They also got an update on the renovation of Lewis Playground and learned about water issues and what they can do about them.

The Mon Water Project

Annie Quinn of The Mon Water Project spoke about water, stormwater and sewage issues that her group is working on in Greenfield and Hazelwood. Ms. Quinn described the organization as being a steward of Four Mile Run and its adjacent sewersheds. She explained that Pittsburgh’s streams have all been covered over and put into pipes that receive the water from our houses, toilets and rooftops. Four Mile Run is an extended sewer system, and Hazelwood has around 10 sewersheds. All of those put together make up the geography that The Mon Water Project focuses on.

The group’s mission is to restore the Monongahela River. The river receives everything that the area puts into it, including sewage, stormwater and

runoff from daily activities like watering lawns and washing cars.

“We’re working on what’s happening on the land, what’s happening in that area, in those neighborhoods, so that we can conserve and restore our lands so we can have clean water as a community,” Ms. Quinn said.

The organization first launched to focus on the flooding in The Run, but Ms. Quinn said she knows flooding is happening throughout the area. It just isn’t as visible.

She and the organization’s education director, Morgan van der Linde, have been going door-to-door in Hazelwood to survey people about their water issues. They want to know about whether water is coming into people’s basements, if their intersection floods when it rains, and any other problems they may have noticed.

The group also wants to advocate for river access from Hazelwood so that people can enjoy the river. Read more about the health of Pittsburgh’s rivers on Page 12.

Ms. Quinn explained that much of the water infrastructure in Pittsburgh is old and broken down. Underground stormwater and sewage pipes were built from bricks or terra cotta; many of them are in bad condition. She proposed documenting the mass failure of terra cotta sewer laterals and advocating for Pittsburgh Water to replace them throughout the city the way it is now replacing lead lines at no cost to landowners.

Replacing sewer laterals can easily cost a homeowner thousands of dollars.

“Individual landowners can’t pay for it,” she said.

This goal would require coordination with water advocates across the state because the legal and legislative picture when it comes to water management is complex.

She also talked about advocating for Pittsburgh to adopt new stormwater management standards so that projects like the Lewis Playground renovation would automatically include stormwater tanks. Wightman Park in Squirrel Hill was designed with stormwater holding tanks. Planters and bumpouts at nearby intersections convey the water toward the tanks, keeping it out of the sewer system and river.

“That project, you need to copy, paste, copy, paste as many times as we can in other areas,” she said. Read more about efforts to keep sewage out of the rivers on Page 12.

Greenfield has been the “squeaky wheel” when it comes to flooding, so it has gotten attention, Ms. Quinn said. Now, she wants Hazelwood to get more attention, but that requires first identifying the problems people in Hazelwood are seeing.

Visit tinyurl.com/Mon-Water-Project-survey-2026 to let The Mon Water Project know about your water concerns and receive a free rain gauge.

Lewis Playground

District 5 City Councilor Barb Warwick gave an update on the playground on the 4700 block of Second Avenue between Minden and Berwick streets.

The retaining wall is now being repaired. The city is designing and ordering materials for the playground. The city held a public input session at Center of Life to get feedback from the children and youth who participate in their programs. Visit engage.pittsburghpa.gov/lewis to see their ideas.

After the work started on the retaining wall, the engineers discovered a bigger problem than they had anticipated. To keep the work moving, Ms. Warwick took money that had been allocated to fix the tennis courts in Glen Hazel and moved it to the Lewis Playground budget. She said she has asked the Department of Public Works to do some minor repairs on the tennis courts for now. She has requested more money for that project from the 2027 budget.

The playground construction will likely start in the fall, Ms. Warwick said. It should be finished by the end of this year, or possibly next spring.

A public art project will be part of the finished playground, she said. That will have a budget of more than $100,000. A request for proposals will go out sometime soon. Ms. Warwick encouraged anyone interested to get involved in that project.

Elizabeth Street Bridge

Department of Mobility and Infrastructure Engagement Manager Jan Raether spoke about the Elizabeth Street Bridge repair project. The bridge’s condition is categorized as fair-to-poor, which means it will be rehabilitated, not rebuilt. It needs new girders and steps, and crash-rated roadway barriers to protect pedestrians. The project will cost $6.5 million. The city will pay 5% of that cost; the rest will come from the state and federal government.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2028. It should finish by the end of 2029. The detour for cars will use Tecumseh Street between Second Avenue and Gloster Street. One sidewalk on the bridge will remain open for pedestrians to cross while the other is fixed. Then, the repaired one will be opened, and work will continue on the other one.

The mural on the side of the bridge will be preserved. Mr. Raether said the artists have been contacted in case repairs are needed.

To view a recording of the June 9 meeting and give your feedback, visit engage.pittsburghpa.gov/elizabeth-street-bridge-rehabilitation.

Hazelwood Initiative Inc.

Hazelwood Initiative Inc. Executive Director Sonya Tilghman announced that the organization’s board is looking for new members. If you are interested in being a board member, or if you are curious about what that would be like, please talk with a board member or with Ms. Tilghman. The nonprofit will put together a slate for the board election later this year.

The July 14 Greater Hazelwood hybrid community meeting agenda has yet to be determined. Attend in person at Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, 107 Flowers Ave., or online by registering at bit.ly/2SwPr9k. Call in to listen at 646-558-8656; Meeting ID: 853 9182 9343, Passcode: 796212.