PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood is almost always packed with drivers and pedestrians. There is news Tuesday that the Central Business District is about to get a lot safer for both groups.

The heavy foot and vehicle traffic in Oakland sometimes creates dangerous situations, officials said, and there have been some devastating accidents there.

A nonprofit group is hoping $1.5 million and a specific vision will change that.

"We wanted to make sure that folks who were coming into Oakland, whether they were employees, students, residents, visitors, were comfortable," said Mavis Rainer of the Oakland Transportation Agency. "This is a very pedestrian-friendly community and actually easy for folks to get around."

The goal of OTA, a nonprofit group, is to improve mobility and safety and aesthetics. Two major changes will include crosswalks that are much more visible and new pedestrian crossing signals.

"So, as part of the improvements, we're going to add interval signals to let you know how many seconds you have to safely cross the street, and for the visually impaired, we also wanted to add some sound to those signals as well," said Rainer.

Another change is that the curbs themselves will be extended, giving pedestrians a safe haven on which to stand while waiting for their turn to cross.

You'll see the changes from McKee to Bouquet on Fifth and Forbes avenues.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring and last through the summer.

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