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    Canton Avenue

    4.2 (11 reviews)

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    At the the top of the road. Yehaw from Texas!
    Stephanie S.

    This was fun to drive up! Scared my passengers but worth it. Everyone should try this . I would do it again.

    Brittany S.

    To the reviews who say this street is too steep to drive on and give it one star, I say "duh". I found this spot thanks to Atlas Obscura. After decades of traveling back and forth to the Pittsburgh area to visit family I'm constantly looking for new opportunities to explore. Yes, it does appear to be the steepest street in America with 37% grade. No, there are not any markers or signs for those of us liking to learn more. Womp womp.

    Paul S.

    For every 100ft, the elevation goes up 37ft. That's what a 37% grade means and this is the steepest road in America folks. You can only drive up the hill. Not only are you now allowed to drive down, you will completely destroy your brakes in the process if you happen to make such a mistake. The sidewalks are unkempt and full of overgrown weeds. So if you wanted to park on some streets up top and walk down, please venture with caution. If for some reason the stair master at your gym isn't enough, come here and train. Your knees will hate you but your heart may thank you... maybe... or it may hate you too...

    Whoa!
    Susan D.

    Want to know the steepest street in the world? Is it Lombard Street in San Francisco? No, it's right here in Pittsburgh and it's Canton Avenue! Canton Avenue is an obscure little street tucked into a corner of Beechview. It's a block long between Hampshire Street and Coast Avenue. There is a northern stub, blocked off by Jersey barriers, but what it once led to, I have no idea. I passed by it when I had to do a site visit for work and I thought, "Holy macaroni!" The second drop on Kennywood's Phantom's Revenge doesn't seem as steep as this! And I always thought nearby Boustead Street was bad! So when I came home, I looked it up. Did you know that Canton Avenue has its own entry in Wikipedia? According to the entry, Canton Avenue has a grade of 37%. That means in 10 ft of horizontal distance, the elevation changes by 3.7 feet. Let's look at it another way. The Mon Incline has a grade of 35 degrees, 35 minutes. The Duqusene Incline has a 30 degree angle. Okay, so I exaggerated on the Phantom's Revenge--that ride has a 46 degree angle drop. No matter, this street is almost gravity-defying! Could you imagine going down this on ice and snow? Or trying to get up it with a manual transmission? Could one of those little Smart Cars even make it up this thing? Or imagine this hill in horse-n-buggy days! Just go to Google Maps, type in the above address, go to "Streetview" and follow Canton Avenue downhill. You'll see! UPDATE 02/28/2012: I had a look at Streetview on Google Maps. This street is so steep, you cannot drive downhill on it. Halfway down the block from Hampshire Ave, there are "Do Not Enter" signs. Presumably this is to allow access to the few houses via the easier (easier being a relative thing) grade from Hampshire Ave.

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    Highway To Nowhere

    Highway To Nowhere

    2.0(1 review)
    3.6 miFairywood

    If you're from the Crafton area, you're probably aware of Industrial Highway, a.k.a. "The Highway…read moreto Nowhere". I was reminded of this highway yesterday when I stopped for lunch at nearby Sharp Edge Creekhouse. Industrial Highway is another one of those quirky little incomplete projects that have always fascinated me. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the road, it's an approximately .6-mile long stretch of highway that's built to expressway standards. It's actually in the Fairywood section of the city and it runs from Roswell Drive to Beechnut Drive. It looks like it may have been intended to start Someplace and go Somewhere by way of Something. But it doesn't and therein lies the mystery. Where was this highway intended to go? According to the website above, "The roadway was to run from PA 60 just east of the Thornburg Bridge northwards along Chartiers Creek to PA 51 in the Esplen Neighborhood that borders the town of McKees Rocks." If that was true, what would be the point of building an expressway connecting Crafton with McKees Rocks? Was it to serve the light industrial park? Was it intended to be a bypass around Broadhead Manor, now abandoned but once one of the most dangerous public housing projects? Whatever the case may be, the highway is not abandoned. You can drive on it, although why would you? The highway seems to have no reason to exist and could be closed because the area streets also serve the industrial park. Pennsylvania has a whole bunch of stalled, abandoned, and never started public works projects and this is one of the more obscure ones.

    Canton Avenue - localflavor - Updated May 2026

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