BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I just heard this too. This really sucks. I asked Steve P. to look into whether police report was taken.

Thanks for letting us know, Caitlin.

Hope the cyclist is ok!

That stretch of Butler is a nightmare.

HOpe everybody knows that you can go down 39th

twd the river, go through the parking lots,

go under the 40th st bridge there. go up 40th.

left willow, right 44th, left foster and come out

at the cemetery. If you are heading inbound this is especially nice cause you can connect

straight to smallman from 39th via some alleys

what steevo said. I didn't realize you could do this until recently looking for a tag under the 40th street bridge.

they just replaced the jersey barriers under the 40th st bridge to the parking lot and the gap is really tight right now. i need to dismount to get thru

Does anyone have a map of this route?

It's a shame that one of the most flat routes into the city is also one of the worst to ride a bike. I hate riding Butler and avoid it all costs. The quality of riding there prevents me from eating lunch that way, I aways ride to the strip.

Hope the crash wasn't too serious.

I see. The one time I rode through that intersection I had a Fed Ex truck bear down on me and pass me within a foot only for him to be stuck at a traffic light a block down.

if you're really sly, you can take hatfield to 50th, then go thru an alley to 51st and then you can continue up into the 50s on back streets without hitting butler at all. or once on 51st, cross butler, up stanton to Carnegie to avoid butler once again.

This is some crucial info, thanks Erok and Steevo.

I never liked Butler, it is a much faster direct route to school for me but I take a much longer route just to avoid it.

Hope cyclist is okay! That's an especially nasty area during rush hour.

If you take back roads around the 50s, watch out for unmarked speed bumps in the goodwill parking lot.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/152983508

You can see part of the cutaround at the end of that ride.

If you see that parking lot on Eroks map - they just within the last few days moved the Jersey barriers at the end of the lot- so you have to dismount to get thru. It used to be you could slither thru, then somebody moved them enough so you could drive a small car thru, but now the gap is only about as wide as my pedals, so i have to carry my bike thru, the gap is smaller than a handlebars width.

really hope they're ok. Today looks like a weird day, maybe it's the change in weather.

but, am I a freak? I actually like biking down Butler, though I never HAVE to do it, and don't do it all the time. It's just the fastest way for me to get downtown unless I go down freeport road (ick) or cut through the East suburbs to the jail trail (whole lot of hills).

Riding there... with all the cute little shops and people *doing* stuff, it just feels like a real city AND a real neighborhood. Like a Richard Scary book. And it's got bridges. But I mostly just like looking at all the little businesses. Most of the places I live/work near are strip-mall-big-box-esque. It's nice to see somewhere with a soul.

sigh, I'm such a city girl.

Mr marv, same here. I used to take butler but I nearly got hit many times by drivers pulling onto butler without looking. So the jail trail it is for me.

I really hope the person isnt seriously injured.

boazo, I almost stacked it yesterday coming into

the barriers! I was in la la land and realized

at the last second they got moved.

Still safer than butler.

How many humans do you think it would take to move again?

I think bike pittsburgh should invest in one of these bad boys for use by members in aforementioned situations

I used to cut under 40th st on my way home, and those barriers seemed to move at least a few times a month, can't figure out why.

They're nomads. Perhaps they're like Jersey cows and can be herded.

they were great for a long time, then obama came to the robotics institute and they closed the gap some. then a car hit the barrier and it was opened up huge. then, the other day, they closed it up as well as added another barrier on the tracks because people were driving next to the tracks to avoid the butler traffic.

what, they couldn't figure out where the on-ramp for the jail trail was?

people driving on the tracks to avoid butler traffic is the best fucking thing i have heard all day. there are literally no enforced traffic laws in the city of pittsburgh

Steevo's above statement seems pretty accurate from what I've seen since living in Pittsburgh.

That is pretty ridiculous. Even for Pittsburgh.

A few weeks back I watched a car on liberty ave in bloomfield make a u turn across both lanes with the passenger side door wide open to pick up someone on the other side of the street. In the process they drove into the bike lanes on both sides. Nothing surprises me anymore

I like the cop that was sitting on the abandoned on ramp on Bigelow Blvd while people did twice the speed limit in front of him.

I do not know anything more about this accident, or whether a police report was filed, but if it was serious enough to warrant mention on the radio, you would think there would be.....

But, I checked the Police Blotter for yesterday. There are no accidents reported at that location.

Erok, can you add this incident to the map of accident locations?

The channel 11 traffic chick definitely (repeatedly) mentioned an accident at this location, and said cops were on the scene, but never said anything about a bike.

Whatever happened, hope they're ok - or that it didn't really happen at all.

Erok - they just replaced the jersey barriers under the 40th st bridge to the parking lot and the gap is really tight right now. i need to dismount to get thru:(

________________________________________

Totally sux.

I wonder if the JBG (jersey barrier gap) isn't a bicycle issue per se as much as an ADA issue - I believe there's a minimum space of 32" required for wheelchair access?

Vannevar: This shortcut is already sort of on private property (though they don't seem to mind), and I'm pretty sure the spot was never intended to be a pass-through to anyone, on foot or bike. Biking through it is like walking alongside train tracks - totally fine, but technically not "within the system."

I've been posting in this thread for a week and just realized that the title says "butlet"