He was responsible for major improvements in city's infrastructure, such as new boulevards, waterworks, and parks, many of them in today's Oakland neighborhood.

[2] In 1911, the Governor of Pennsylvania named him as a commissioner of the newly formed State Highway Department from 1911 to 1915.

As head of city planning in 1900, he started work on a system of grand boulevards (including Beechwood, Bigelow (then named Grant), and Washington boulevards)[5] to connect the parks.

[2] Barry Hannegan, director of historic landscape preservation for the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said in 2000 that "He (Bigelow) brought to Pittsburgh what we would now call state-of- the-art landscape architecture and horticulture" and "We owe him a lot.

"[4] Bigelow died on December 6, 1916, before taking the position of Public Works director for a fourth time.