BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I noticed all the debris while walking from my house in Aspinwall to the bus stop by the zoo to catch the 87. It was pretty terrible. Maybe, some people can get together and sweep the sidewalk. I'd be glad to help.

Has anyone cleaned this up yet?

I biked it Monday and it was bad enough that I sent this email to Julie Jakubec, the Ohara Township manager. (see http://www.ohara.pa.us/contact.asp) The sidewalk of the Highland Park Bridge, particularly the northern half, is strewn with garbage, some of it many months or years old, some of it newer (shredded carpet, perhaps?). The sidewalk looks like something you’d find in a third-world country. (see attached pictures). My understanding is that the northern half of the bridge is in Ohara Township. Could you have the sidewalk cleaned soon, please? I bike this bridge and beyond being ugly, the trash is a hazard. https://flic.kr/p/2ixrxsz

Also, Curb cuts are needed on the sidewalks leading to the bridge from Aspinwall. Why is there no sidewalk on Washington Blvd. heading upstream from the bridge?

Regarding curb cuts: I believe that as part of the construction project to widen route 28 (which is supposedly starting this summer), they are going to redo the offramp intersections that go to Freeport Road on each side of the bridge, and they will both be getting stoplights.  So that will be better for bikes and pedestrians, it will hopefully slow down traffic a bit, and I would assume as part of redoing them that curb cuts would be put in.

Jakubec of Ohara replied "The Township has no responsibility for the Highland Park Bridge or its sidewalks. The bridge is owned and maintained by Pendot." so I contacted PennDOT at https://customercare.penndot.gov/

I think the ramp from the bridge to Washington Blvd should be converted to a T intersection with either a stop sign or traffic light so cyclists heading toward the Bud Harris track don't have to contend with the weave area east of the off ramp. It's easy enough to either change lanes between Baker St. and One Wild Pl., turn into the left lane from One Wild Pl., or the sidewalk, so the slip lane is not a problem.

Regarding trash on the Highland Park Bridge sidewalk, at the north end, PennDOT says it's Ohara Township's problem! So now we've closed the loop. Below is the text of PennDOT's message to me yesterday: Thank you for submitting concern number 20200227-BM7N9T dated 02/27/2020. After review, it has been determined that this concern falls under the management of the local city or municipality. Because of this, you will need to contact the city/municipality with your concern. Information from PennDOT specific to your concern is as follows... Thank you for submitting your concern in relation to debris on the sidewalks of the Highland Park Bridge. While PennDOT is responsible for the structural integrity of the bridge and its sidewalks, the local municipalities are responsible for the snow/ice/debris removal on the sidewalks. The HPB straddles a number of municipalities. These include: O'Hara Township for the majority of the main span of the river crossing, and the ramps on the northern side of the structure. The City of Pittsburgh for the southern portion of the bridge and its approach ramps. The Boroughs of Sharpsburg and Aspinwall for the areas leading into the northern ramps on the Eastern and Western sides, respectively. We hope this information will help you to track down the responsible party to get the sidewalks cleared, and we appreciate your commitment to public safety! Should you require any additional information as to why this concern is for the city/municipality, please contact Dylan Soller at dsoller@pa.gov or at 412-429-4902.

I wrote back to Jakubec at Ohara Township: So to answer the question of who maintains the sidewalk at the north end of the Highland Park Bridge:

• Ohara Twp says it’s PennDOT’s problem.
• PennDOT says it’s Ohara Twp’s problem.

Is anybody going to take responsibility for this, or are we in a circular pass-the-buck stalemate? Is there something you can do, talking with PennDOT, to resolve this?

Maybe Aspinwall and Sharpsburg should be contacted.

Wow.  I have cleaned that whole sidewalk before.  I just can't do it right now.  I used a leaf blower and walked it all.  Then bagged it at the end.  Lots of glass on the sidewalk right now due to that one little snow they had to plow all the way against the barrier to make sure all road debris gets thrown on the sidewalk.  Oh well, maybe a big rain will get rid of some of it into the river.

You're saying that when they plow, not just snow and ice, but also trash, gets pushed onto the sidewalk? Including glass? It would be nice to have a video of a plow doing that.

How did PosterGirlDani get the 40th St Bridge stalemate resolved? We need to do the same here. (That’s her Twitter name. She has an account on this board but I haven’t seen her post here in a couple years.) Here’s a tweet about the Troy Hill walk/bikeway. https://twitter.com/postergirldani/status/1215354064684421121?s=21 Here’s her tweet about ending her GoFundMe campaign. https://twitter.com/postergirldani/status/1206730851922432003?s=21

So I've been gone from this message board for months, but I hopped on again about 2 weeks ago and I saw this thread.   I found the answer, thanks to Rep. Mizgorski's office. It's the local municipality that is responsible for day to day care of the HPB and other sidewalks. I even have the law -- they gave me the code, etc.  However, I have it as a PDF, so i can't upload it. First off, Act 615 of 1961 defines the HPB span as a state highway.  It's officially PA state route 02270. And in PA Publication 23, maintenance manual, chapter 7, appendix C (I'm not making this up) it clearly states that in state highways anywhere in PA other than Philly that the local municipality is responsible for day to day care of the sidewalks So, we have the answer -- if it's a penndot road/bridge, and there's a sidewalk, and you're not in Philly, it's the city/boro/township that's responsible. So when O'Hara says it isn't responsible for picking up the trash?  They're wrong. When Pittsburgh says it can't cut the weeds or clean bridges or sidewalks, they're wrong too. Now will anyone actually change their behavior?  probably not. BTW, I'm gone again.  I'll Check the board maybe in a few months.

When there are two municipalities on either end of a bridge, who's responsible for care of the bridge sidewalks? Are the two municipalities supposed to maintain their 1/2 independently?

Maybe most of the people in the municipality governments are as confused about the responsibilities as we are?

Thanks for all your help.  At the end of the day, no one will do anything, so it is up to myself or some other cyclist that feels energetic.  I think we need to get rid of most government personnel and have lower taxes, so we would have more time, money and energy to do things ourselves to help communities. The only thing governments do is waste money. Keep all this stuff in mind if you want government to run our healthcare.  Think DMV.  No thanks.  Want something done, you need to do it yourself. Again, thanks.

On 12/2 I submitted the following to PennDOT at https://customercare.penndot.gov/ location: Highland Park Bridge nearest cross street: Freeport Rd Submit New Concern / Remove Something from Road / Debris / In the Road or Traffic Lane [I didn’t choose On The Roadside] Bicycles are vehicles, so a sidewalk is a traffic lane, right? Big box of vinyl siding has been dumped on the sidewalk. Perhaps it flew off of a truck, someone found it in the roadway and decided to throw it on the sidewalk. It’s currently blocking half of the narrow sidewalk. As I was cycling, I could have returned it to the roadway, but that didn’t seem right. See photo. There’s also a pile of bottles at the north end of sidewalk. When I contacted Julie Jakubec, Ohara Twp manager, about the bottles previously, she told me that PennDOT was responsible for the sidewalk of this bridge, not Ohara. Please maintain this sidewalk better, it’s a vital connection for pedestrians & cyclists! reference number is 20211202-C9C5SR https://flic.kr/p/2mPHLPE

On 12/3: Regarding yesterday’s report to PennDOT about Highland Park sidewalk trash, I was kind of anticipating the familiar pass-the-buck routine, and that’s what I got in PennDOT’s reply. In this case, removal of debris (cleaning of the sidewalk) is the responsibility of the local agency. The Highland Park Bridge is a structure listed under Act 615. For Act 615 structures, PennDOT’s curb to curb maintenance policy (1945 State Highway Law | Article V | Section 522) applies. Maintenance (e.g. removal of snow or cleaning [of debris, litter, etc.]) beyond the curb lines (the sidewalks) are the responsibility of the local agency. The Highland Park Bridge and its related approach structures straddle a few local agencies – the City of Pittsburgh on the southern half, O’Hara Twp on the northern half, and Aspinwall and Sharpsburg on the northern approach ramps. Your concern will be forwarded to the responsible local agency. Which I assume means they’re forwarding my request to O’Hara (who told me previously that PennDOT is responsible for the sidewalk!)

Update on Highland Park Bridge sidewalk:

• PennDOT says the sidewalk on north end of bridge is O'Hara Township's responsibility.
• O'Hara told me it's county's responsibility (last year they told me it was PennDOT's).
• County tells me it's PennDOT's responsibility.

So now, through email, I'm trying to get O'Hara township manager talking with PennDOT and get them to come to an agreement. It's amazing that this bridge was completed in 1939 and here we are, 78 years later, and no governmental body has a clear idea of who maintains the sidewalk! (But let something happen to the roadway between the curbs, and they're ON IT!)

Well if it is curb to curb, maybe we need to move it onto the shoulder of the road.  Not on the road, but from the white line to the jersey barrier.  That debris has been there a long time.  I love it when Penn Dot plows the snow all over the sidewalk.  That is always fun.  Riding on that roadway isn't VERY dangerous these days as people are super angry and drive VERY aggressively and very fast.  Over 70mph is often. It is a problem that goes on all the time.  Maybe someday the train bridge will be converted to a bike bridge, but I don't think I like where it drops you off up by Homewood.  I would really prefer to go up the zoo hill or down Butler depending on where I am cycling.  

I am envisioning stopping there with a white pickup, a bunch of people with hi vis vests on, blocking a lane with orange cones, loading the debris into the bed and delivering half to O’Hara offices sidewalk and half to a nearby PenDoT office sidewalk. I can dream, can’t I

@Dave.   The debris will be there until a cyclist or walker moves it themselves.  Sometimes I will drag things and throw them at the end of the sidewalk past the fence.  I have done pruning, weed whacking and leaf blowing there, but I am spread thin now.  Maybe I will move it if I have some time soon.  It is a drag. No one will ever claim that sidewalk.  Penn Dot hates it and plows tons of debris on it every winter.  Then there are nails and a host of things that puncture tires.

This is exactly the run-around Dani got on the 40th St Bridge. She used to post here all the time as @parvipica but I haven't seen her on here in years.