Pittsburgh's most dangerous intersections, according to the crash data

Pittsburgh's crash geography is unlike most cities its size. Three rivers, dozens of bridges, and hillside neighborhoods squeeze traffic through a small number of choke points, and those choke points show up again and again in the crash data. When the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and Allegheny County reviewed five years of crash records, they found something stark: 79% of severe crashes in the county happen on just 9% of its roadways.¹ That single number explains most of what follows. Dangerous intersections here aren't random. They repeat.

Start with the two intersections that have topped local danger lists for close to a decade. An analysis of PennDOT crash records covering 2014 through 2016 found the West End Bridge at West Carson Street logged 93 crashes and 32 injuries in that window, the worst of any intersection in the county. PennDOT identified 787 intersections countywide with five or more crashes over the same period.² Second on the list was P.J. McArdle Roadway at the Liberty Bridge, with 65 crashes, 13 injuries, and one fatality. Third was Route 51 at Whited Street in the Saw Mill Run corridor, with 36 crashes and 20 injuries.³

PennDOT District 11 traffic engineer Todd Kravits told WESA that construction projects near some of these sites had masked the underlying problem, and that crews "couldn't do much until that construction project was over before we could make changes." He also pointed to driver behavior, estimating that "upwards of 90 percent of all crashes are taking place today because of behavioral issues" like distraction, texting, and impaired driving.²

Those same two intersections haven't improved much since. West Carson Street and Arlington Avenue, running from P.J. McArdle Roadway to Corliss Street, made the county's newest list of priority safety corridors in 2026, the exact stretch that includes both historic trouble spots.⁴ The danger is not theoretical: on March 22, 2024, a multi-vehicle crash on West Carson Street near the Duquesne Incline sent four people, three adults and a child, to the hospital after a driver lost control coming off the West End Bridge. At least five vehicles were involved, one rolled over, and the road was closed for nearly two hours.⁵

Where the county is putting its money now

Allegheny County recorded 55,733 crashes on its roads between 2019 and 2023, with 339 deaths and 1,757 serious injuries. Those crashes fell hardest on lower-income and minority communities, which accounted for 43% of fatal and serious-injury crashes despite holding roughly a quarter of the county's population and road miles.⁴

In July 2026, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Allegheny County, the City of Pittsburgh, PennDOT, and Pittsburgh Regional Transit jointly launched the Allegheny County Vision Zero Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, backed by a $520,000 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant plus $130,000 in local matching funds.¹ The plan names ten priority corridors for fixes like curb bump-outs, narrower travel lanes, speed bumps, and better lighting.⁴ The list reads like a tour of the region's most talked-about trouble spots:

• Fifth Avenue, from Bellefield to Penn Avenue
• Aiken Avenue and Liberty Avenue, from Fifth Avenue to the Bloomfield Bridge
• Penn Avenue, from Fifth Avenue to Hay Street
• Butler Street, from 34th Street to the 62nd Street Bridge
• West Carson Street and Arlington Avenue, from P.J. McArdle Roadway to Corliss Street
• Ohio River Boulevard, from the McKees Rocks Bridge to Laurel Avenue
• McKees Rocks Road and Lorish Road, from Steubenville Pike to Heckel Road
• Homeville Road, Greensprings Avenue, and Ravine Street, from Homestead Duquesne Road to 8th Avenue
• Brownsville Road, from Broughton to Baptist Road
• River Road, Kennywood Boulevard, and Duquesne Boulevard, from Ravine Street to Overland Avenue⁴

County Executive Sara Innamorato described the plan as a cross-agency commitment: "This is how we build safer communities. We do it by working together across" every level of government involved.⁴

Kennywood Boulevard's place on that list isn't abstract. A 13-year-old died there in December 2025, and another pedestrian was killed on the same stretch in 2021.⁶ Local officials have applied for $14.5 million in federal grants to rebuild three of the highest-risk sites first: Butler Street, McKees Rocks Road/Lorish Road, and Home Street/Greensprings Avenue/Ravine Street, part of an $18.2 million package that would take roughly five years to build if the funding comes through.⁶

Oakland's Fifth Avenue corridor

If one neighborhood shows up more than any other in Pittsburgh's crash data, it's Oakland, and Fifth Avenue is the spine of the problem. On December 5, 2024, 37-year-old University of Pittsburgh staff member Jessie Maroney was struck and killed by a box truck while in the crosswalk at Darragh and Terrace streets. It was the fourth fatality at that specific location since 2019.⁷

Pittsburgh's Vision Zero rapid-response team reviewed the intersection within a week. City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger said near-term fixes could include limiting turning movements, extending the walk signal so pedestrians get a head start before the light changes, and improving lighting, while a full signal replacement would run $200,000 to $400,000.⁷ The corridor's inclusion in both the city's High Injury Network and the county's 2026 priority list is not a coincidence; Fifth Avenue between Bellefield and Penn Avenue sits at the center of both maps.⁴⁸

What the city's own numbers show

Pittsburgh logged 21 traffic deaths in 2023, seven of them pedestrians, the toll that pushed the city to formally adopt Vision Zero in March 2024.⁸ The city's High Injury Network, built from crash records, found that just 122 of the city's more than 1,000 miles of streets account for 86% of serious-injury crashes and 76% of fatal crashes. Frankstown Avenue, Baum Boulevard, Center Avenue, Penn Avenue, Liberty Avenue, and Grant Street all sit on that map.⁸

Mayor Ed Gainey's 2024 budget roughly doubled the city's traffic-safety capital spending, including $1.4 million for signal upgrades. DOMI Director Kim Lucas called it "an increase in actual dollars," and Municipal Traffic Engineer Michael Maloch said the city would be "heavily increasing the amount of locations where signs are posted prohibiting turn-on-red."⁸

If you've been hurt at one of these locations

None of this data changes how a police report gets written or how an insurance adjuster values a claim, but it can matter for a different reason. If you were hurt at a location the county or city has already flagged as high-risk, records of prior crashes, safety studies, and even the Vision Zero corridor list itself can become relevant to a claim that road design or signal timing played a role. The full crash history for any Allegheny County location, going back to 2004, is public through the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center's crash dataset, built from PennDOT's own reporting.⁹

If you're dealing with a serious injury from a crash at one of these intersections, an attorney who knows the local terrain, and the paper trail these agencies have already built, is worth talking to. You can find one through the legal directory.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, "SPC, County, City, PennDOT, PRT Launch Vision Zero Comprehensive Safety Action Plan for Allegheny County to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities" (July 2, 2026) - https://www.spcregion.org/2026/07/02/spc-county-city-penndot-prt-launch-vision-zero-comprehensive-safety-action-plan-for-allegheny-county-to-eliminate-traffic-fatalities/

2. WESA, "What Are The Most Crash-Prone Intersections In Allegheny County?" (Nov. 29, 2017) - https://www.wesanews.org/development-transportation/2017-11-29/what-are-the-most-crash-prone-intersections-in-allegheny-county

3. CBS News Pittsburgh, "Study Reveals The Most Dangerous Intersections In Allegheny County" - https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/most-dangerous-intersections-in-allegheny-county

4. WESA, "Zero traffic deaths by 2050? Allegheny County partners name 10 roads for fixes" (July 7, 2026) - https://www.wesanews.org/development-transportation/2026-07-07/allegheny-county-10-roads-safety-improvements-vision-zero

5. CBS News Pittsburgh, "3 adults and 1 child hurt in crash near West End Bridge" - https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/3-adults-and-1-child-hurt-in-crash-near-west-end-bridge

6. TribLive, "Allegheny County's high-injury traffic corridors targeted for safety improvements" - https://community.triblive.com/news/4086094

7. Pittsburgh Union Progress, "'Vehicular violence': Pittsburgh will review Oakland intersection where a pedestrian recently was killed" (Dec. 12, 2024) - https://www.unionprogress.com/2024/12/12/vehicular-violence-pittsburgh-will-review-oakland-intersection-where-a-pedestrian-recently-was-killed/

8. WESA, "After 21 killed in 2023, Pittsburgh renews its vow to dramatically reduce traffic-related deaths" (March 4, 2024) - https://www.wesanews.org/politics-government/2024-03-04/pittsburgh-traffic-calming-pedestrian-deaths-vision-zero

9. Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center, "Allegheny County Crash Data" - https://data.wprdc.org/dataset/allegheny-county-crash-data