I commuted to work for the first time this season a couple of days ago. It was exhilirating to bike to work. The problem is the amount of cars on the road. This is my view but it's just not safe. There is no room for bicycles b/c the roads are so narrow and traffic congestion is crazy.
I am scared to death to ride on the road. Especially Penn Ave and Ardmore Blvd.
My commute starts in Forest Hills. There are no bike racks on the buses so I am stuck riding up ardmore blvd. The intersection where everyone merges onto and off the highway is awful. There is no place to ride. There are not even any sidewalks to get onto.
Can someone help me out here? I really want to commute to work, but scared of ardmore blvd.
Big thumbs up on your ride!
Ardmore stinks, no doubt. It was never designed to be the major through-way that it has evolved into.
What are your starting and ending points?
I think you could go either Greensburg Pike to Frankstown, or Brinton Road. Greensburg Pike is a 4 lane that seems to me really lightly travelled. Brinton Road in to Braddock is hilly, but would be preferable to Ardmore. Braddock Ave would not be good but there are many side street options there.
there are plenty of ways to avoid penn as well. what part of penn are you finding yourself riding on?
I took side streets along Penn on the way to work. I stayed on Penn on the way home from work. Not a good idea. Wont do it again.
It's the highway merging section on Ardmore that scares me. I will not ride on the road in that section. I walk my bike in the grass area.
My destination is Washingtons Landing. Any idea if the Port Auth will add more bike racks to buses? It would be nice to put my bike on a bus and get past ardmore into Wilkinsburg.
Have you actually seen the buses coming by without racks? Just because a route is not designated a rack n roll does not mean it will not have a rack (unfortunately just because it is a rack n roll doesnt mean it will, but thats another rant) There are people on here who know much more than I do on the subject, but I know that any new bus they acquire has a rack and a majority of the buses do now have racks. So, if there a few different buses that you may be able to take to a safer route I would guess there is a good chance one will have a rack.
Until you get more info on the buses, then, I would suggest Brinton, it's sort of the back way into Regent Square, then you can wiggle your way across town from there. I don't know what it's like during rush hr, but it would completely avoid that ridiculous highway ramp area that you are correctly concerned about.
Yeah, I agree with edmonds59--Brinton is a decent option. It'll add mileage (and some climbing, depending on where you are), but it'll be better than Ardmore to Penn.
Greensburg Pike is also very do-able. It would take you to Penn further east in Blackridge. From there is a somewhat better connection into Wilkinsburg. In looking at Mapquest it also looks like there is a road off of Ardmore that would let you skip that really sketchy section. But, this is based totally on map -- no personal experience. You'd take a right on Marlboro, just where it is getting bad, and then a left on South Midland, which would drop you on Penn right near the drop back down into Wilkinsburg. Alternately, you could stay on Marlboro, where it winds around, then catch Woodland (?) and Princeton. You'd come out right near the atheltic field on Penn.
Greensburg Pike wouldn't be a bad choice, either. I've not ridden it during rush hour, but on the weekends, it's pretty mellow.
Sara, the collection of roads you list are pretty quiet, but, zoinks, there's a lot of climbing to be had there.
Don't forget that Ardmore is two lanes, take one of them to yourself and let the jerks in their cars change lanes. They will be waiting for you at the next light or stuck in traffic on the parkway so don't think that your holding them up. It's hard to assert yourself when it's new to you, but I learned pretty quickly.
I live in Edgewood near the intersection of Maple and Brinton, this is the general route I take from that area to Liberty Ave. It's calm most of the way until I hit Liberty.
Some background info on the buses. You can pretty much ignore the rack-ride-roll list. It's outdated, and as was mentioned above, not really reliable.
About 3/4 of the standard 40-foot buses have racks. Those are the buses typically used on the 67F, 67J, 68D, 68F and 68J that serve the Ardmore-Brinton-Forest Hills area. I translate that into being present frequently enough to be attractive, and missing frequently enough to be irritating.
The big articulated (bend-in-the-middle) buses are less likely to have a rack, maybe one-in-two. The 68J uses these a lot.
As to when they'll all be equipped, maybe a year or two. All these headlines about transit funding are very relevant. In the last funding fight, they only got the $ for 55 new buses, not the 85 they wanted.
Stay tuned.
just look at the 'bumper bike strikes again' thread. It will answer all of your questions
If you're feeling particularly ballsy some day, try this. (Recommendation: Don't.)
Ardmore was mentioned several times in that thread, so we know whereof you speak.
rsprake, god bless you for taking the lane on Ardmore, but the main problem with route 30 is that is has become the main route in and out of Pgh for the tax-hating, gun toting, Westmoreland County types who only reluctantly go into the city because there are no jobs in Westmoreland County, and who see a person on a bike as a hippie affront to their whole Fox News world view. Don't go there if you don't have to.
I'd like to say I don't like stereotypes, but I'd be lyin.
I don't ride on Ardmore. It was just a suggestion based on my limited amount of riding on 2 lane roads. It's better to take one of the two lanes available instead of hugging the gutter.
javabean, Ardmore also has a sidewalk most of the way and not a lot of pedestrians, you would be safe riding the sidewalk there and getting off of Penn ASAP. Explore the PGH bike map some. It's how I found my route.
The traffic down Ardmore tends to be pretty tight boluses. I'll wait for a clump of cars to pass, then sprint after the last one, usually close to keeping up to the next light.
At the lights I get the F off the road, then let anyone in a car who is catching up to the main turd pass me, then sprint after the last one to the next light.
Going the other way, I climb paved cliffs they call "back roads" to Brinton and do something similar, but faster and less trafficky down Brinton and Maple.
A car in front of me is my friend; a car behind me is a killer.
rsprake's suggestion of "sidewalk up/take lane down" strike me as good, too.
Mick
@bjanaszek; He said he didn't like traffic. Said nothing about hills...... Nor did he say where he was coming from. For all we know, he lives on TOP of one of those hills. But, your point is taken.
Hey there. Thanks for all the responses. I do live on a hill in Forest Hills. A very steep and long hill. Btw I am female. 
My wife and I looked at some houses in Forest Hills with some MEAN hills.
"Btw I am female."
We don't care.
(I mean that in the good way!)
Ha, ha!
Then it's simple, if you're north of Ardmore, take Greensburg Pike, south, Brinton.
Hi! I commute from East Lib to Forest Hills and back daily. I haven't really figured out a way to do it that doesn't involve a huge detour or some serious climbing, so I just take Ardmore. My opinion is that it's not too tough going outbound--it's a downhill, so it's a little easier to keep up with traffic. But heading into the city is definitely tough.
I work at the office building by the Citizens Bank. I generally just take the sidewalk from there to where it ends at that apartment building and then jump on the road. It can be a little terrifying if you're not used to it, but it's not as bad as the rest of Ardmore since it turns into three lanes there. I generally hang a right right before the onramp, swing around and use that light to go down the hill to Wilkinsburg. The only tough part after that is making sure no one merges without seeing you. I've never had any close calls doing that ride, I think you're pretty unlikely to be hit from behind.
I wish they'd pave over that median and make room for a bike lane!
Interesting to relate the streets to the topography. Brinton and Greensburg Pike run along the ridges, Ardmore Blvd runs along the valley between them -- some now-lost stream flowing into Turtle Creek. Ridge roads involve a lot more climbing to get too, and are bumpier as you ride along them. The valley road is far smoother. Unfortunately the road builders put a heavier traffic road through the valley.
The next valley over to the east has Brown/Beulah Road, which is really quite nice for riding imo, but likely not a convenient commuting route for you.
North equivalent: Perry Hwy / Perrysville Ave is a ridge road, somewhat reasonably bike-able for much of its length, if you don't mind frequent elevation changes. McKnight Road is a valley road, much wider, much flatter, much faster, and extremely bike-hostile.
