THE TWO-STALL POTTY NEAR GATEWAY CENTER T-STATION. | PHOTO PROVIDED BY PITTSBURGH DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP

[Updated: On Oct. 29, 2024, City Council unanimously agreed to spend $600,000 in COVID relief funds to add 11 public bathrooms to Downtown.]

Eleven more public bathrooms may be placed around the Golden Triangle over the next two years. Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday introduced legislation that would allocate $600,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds for the expanded initiative, according to a report by TribLive.

The City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership teamed up to install two temporary bathroom trailers Downtown in September 2023 — known as the Pittsburgh Public Potty — following public outcry over the lack of public lavatories available for both Downtown visitors and the growing homeless population. Many of the public bathrooms had been closed during the height of the pandemic. 

They installed a two-stall trailer near the Gateway Center T-station and one near the corner of Strawberry Way and Smithfield Street. Both provided running water, electricity, heating and AC. The one near Smithfield was removed in February when a public bathroom reopened in the Smithfield-Liberty Parking Garage.

When the trailers were installed, city and Downtown leaders talked about finding a permanent solution to provide these essentials. City Council President Daniel Lavelle of the Hill District, whose district includes part of Downtown, on Tuesday said he believes it would be more cost-efficient to add more portable bathrooms. The city hopes to once again team with the partnership to expand bathroom availability.

The partnership provides a Downtown directory on its website that shows the location of the temporary two-stall bathroom trailer by the Gateway Center T-station as well as bathrooms available to the public in five other places: the Smithfield-Liberty Parking Garage, daily 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., at 629 Smithfield St.; the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh during operating hours at 612 Smithfield St.; Allegheny County Courthouse during operating hours, 436 Grant St.; City-County Building during operating hours at 414 Grant St.; and in Point State Park near the fountain from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.