Pittsburgh Information
Pittsburgh's Belts - "The Perfect Accessory"
For drivers accustomed to straight east-west and north-south roads laid
out like grid work, the streets in and around Pittsburgh can pose confusing
navigational problems. Due to our many streams and rivers, mountainous
terrain, and numerous valleys, most of our roads are circuitous, following
the natural lay of the land. In Pittsburgh, this means the road you
are on could be more crooked than a dishonest politician.
To ameliorate this situation and to address the increasing congestion on
our city’s roads, in the 1940s the Allegheny County Department of Public
Works began to develop a beltway system that would aid drivers in finding
their way. Using existing federal, state, and municipal roads,
color-coded routes that encircled the city were created. The signs for the
belts are white rectangles with a colored circle corresponding to the name
of the belt, with the color spelled out as well. Initially, five loops
were developed. Then in 1995, a sixth belt, The Purple Belt, was
added.
Based on the order of the colors in the rainbow, the outermost loop is
the Red Belt. It is followed by the ever-decreasing circuits of the
Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple Belts. The Red and Orange
Belts are not complete loops because the rest of their circumference would
fall outside of the county. The Green Belt is also incomplete, making
an arc through the northern and eastern suburbs. It comes so close to
the neighboring Yellow Belt, it was not necessary to complete the southern
and western portions.
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see larger version of map.
Pittsburgh’s Red Belt
The Red Belt is 33 miles long. Its western terminus is in Leetsdale
and the eastern terminus is in Tarentum. Due to increased development
of the northern suburbs of Allegheny County, the Red Belt has become a vital
artery.
Pittsburgh’s Orange Belt
The Orange Belt is the longest beltway and is nearly three times longer
than the Red Belt at 92 miles. The second of three incomplete loops,
it begins in the south at Library and nearly completes the circle, falling
just short, ending in Elizabeth Township. Among the points of interest
found on the Orange Belt are many of the county’s parks and the airport.
Pittsburgh’s Yellow Belt
The first complete belt around the city is the Yellow Belt. It is
76 miles long and passes through numerous municipalities and communities.
It traverses all three of Pittsburgh’s rivers, the Allegheny, Monongahela
and the Ohio.
Pittsburgh’s Green Belt
With the Green Belt, we return to an incomplete loop once again.
This semi-circle arcs through the northern and eastern suburbs. The
39-mile belt begins in the northwestern portion of Allegheny County in
Emsworth and ends in McKeesport on the Yellow Belt. It is the only
belt that has a terminus on another belt. Travelers along this belt
will find a contrast in the communities it visits. The swank suburb of
Fox Chapel, home to many of the area’s wealthiest individuals, differs
greatly from the older industrial towns of the Mon Valley such as Duquesne
and McKeesport. Along its course, attractions such as Kennywood Park
and the Pittsburgh Zoo are found.
Pittsburgh’s Blue Belt
The Blue Belt flirts with the city, dipping in and out of the suburbs and
into the Pittsburgh’s city limits in several locations. It is a
38-mile circle and visits numerous city neighborhoods and suburban enclaves.
Like the Yellow Belt, the Blue Belt also crosses the city’s three rivers.
It crosses the Allegheny via the Highland Park Bridge, the Monongahela via
the Homestead High Level Bridge and the Ohio via the McKees Rocks Bridge.
Pittsburgh’s Purple Belt
The newest belt, The Purple Belt, is also known as the Cultural Loop.
It is the only belt whose jurisdiction resides entirely in the City of
Pittsburgh, and all of the streets lie within the downtown area. The
Purple Belt helps travelers to navigate the Golden Triangle easily. It
avoids one-way streets and difficult left turns. The Purple Belt is
part of the Wayfarer System, which was designed in the mid-1990s by Bob
Firth of Informing Design of Pittsburgh. This belt has different signage
than all the other belts.
Pittsburgh’s Wayfarer System
The Wayfarer System divides the city into five color-coded sections.
Light blue represents the North Side, green the South Side, Downtown,
purple, The Strip District greenish-brown, and East End orange.
Destination signs are also part of the Wayfarer System. They are found
outside specific venues and the sign is the color of the area in which the
location is found. For example, the Mellon Arena is found in downtown
Pittsburgh along the purple section of the Wayfarer System. Therefore
the building has a purple sign out front that says Mellon Arena.
Although driving the street and highways of Pittsburgh can be tricky, the
belts of Pittsburgh are an indispensible accessory that helps to make
navigating in the area easier, not to mention more colorful!
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