Pittsburgh ends pilot potty program Downtown as permanent facilities open

The temporary public bathrooms that rolled out several months ago in Downtown Pittsburgh are gone, replaced by a more permanent solution.

New public restrooms have opened inside the nearby Smithfield-Liberty Parking Garage, Richard Hooper, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, said Monday.

The nonprofit Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and Mayor Ed Gainey unveiled their Pittsburgh Potty Initiative in September, opening temporary public bathrooms, with one located at the Gateway Center T Station Plaza and the other at Smithfield Street and Strawberry Way.

“The Pittsburgh Potties were planned as a short-term program to bridge public restroom need while efforts to bring permanent facilities Downtown continued,” Hooper said, adding the pilot program “successfully fulfilled its temporary use.”

Partnership employees had monitored the Pittsburgh Potty sites, and they’ll continue to do so with the permanent bathrooms at the parking garage, Hooper said. There will be ongoing maintenance from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, he said. There are two single-occupancy restrooms, one designated male and the other female.

The plan has the support of the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, which owns and manages the garage, Hooper said.

“Permanent restroom facilities offer an array of additional benefits, including hot and cold running water, heat and improved ventilation,” Hooper said.

The temporary bathrooms, which were on trailers, were equipped with running water, electricity, heating and cooling.

A Gainey spokeswoman directed questions to the Downtown partnership.

“The PDP believes that having consistent access to restroom facilities is an essential part of creating a welcoming environment for the thousands of people who come into Downtown every day and a critical step toward addressing public health and hygiene issues,” Hooper said. “We remain committed to increasing access to these facilities and supporting their maintenance and oversight.”