BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I cannot tell a lie, it was Erok.

was this a dare?

brad, does that mean i'm middle aged?

there is one section of the highway that you can ride on, near neville island. i always forget if that's 579

It's easy to mistake someone as middle-aged all bundled up on a cruiser bike.

I remember seeing that bikes on highway sign when we rode out there this past spring. Was it just that bridge by Neville island? Didn't we call Steevo to ask him about it when we were out there?

You can bike on I-79 ("Walk Bikes On Shoulder", I think it says...) on the bridge across the Ohio betwixt Rte 65 and Neville Island, to facilitate access to the Montour Trail. Is that the area you mean?

Yes. You can ride your bike on I-79 between Neville Island and Route 65. You do not have to walk the bike. You can ride it. But, you are encouraged to stay ont he shoulder. It would be a nice ride, but for the extremely LONG entrance and exit ramps.

Wow, on a cruiser bike no less. Very nice.

so... he rode over the veteran's bridge and into town?

Isn't Bigelow Blvd right there too? Although, inbound in Bigelow in the morning is probably the same as riding on 579...

Other craziness--a co-worker routinely sees someone biking through the Liberty Tubes in the morning, around 6:30 AM.

I occasionally see a guy on a road bike on business 60 between Montour Run Rd and Ewing Rd.

579 is by Bigelow/downtown, not neville island. It was surreal.

"I occasionally see a guy on a road bike on business 60 between Montour Run Rd and Ewing Rd."

Damn, I thought that might have been me for a second until I figured out exactly where you were you were talking about. I can't imagine where someone would possibly be going that there aren't several better, alternate ways. Leaving the possibility that he is just nuts.

Having thought about it, it would absolutely rock to catch a draft on a van or suv heading into the Liberty tubes, hit 45 - 50 mph easy. sweet.

Is it legal to ride on 579?

Maybe a better question is, where is the list of "state-designated freeways" on which it is apparently illegal to ride?

I saw someone going south on I-279 (Parkway North) just inbound of the Venture Street on ramp, around 5:30 p.m. back in maybe October. Male, 50ish. At that moment I was on an outbound 13C on the HOV Lane.

Speaking of the HOV Lane, I once rode it inbound. Nice! Bloggy.

Stu, I think the only law you broke was that you had 1 occupant in your vehicle.

Salty, it looks like state law prohibits cycling on all freeways, not just state-designated ones.

It goes on that for state-designated freeways in particular, you can apply to the state for permission to override that general restriction, on the grounds that there's no reasonable alternative route for cyclists. (If PA has any non-state-designated freeways, there's no info there about how you might get permission to cycle on them.)

So I think cycling on 579 or 279 is always illegal.

I'm not clear on the "state designated freeways" thing. The "I-" routes, 279, etc. are signed "limited access, no peds, bicycles, horses, goat-carts," etc. But rt 19, like through Mt. Lebo, is a state route, and totally legal to ride on. 19 is the route through the tubes, so it would be legit to ride through, right? Anybody know if there is signage that specifically prohibits bikies?

Sign says 'motor vehicles only' when approaching the tubes.

Bastards, they've thought of everything.

But it's cool with them for a couple hundred cars to sit at a standstill in the tunnels with their engines idling for X amount of time. Jerks.

"you can apply to the state for permission to override that general restriction, on the grounds that there's no reasonable alternative route for cyclists."

I'm pretty sure that's what was done quite a few years ago for the Neville Island Bridge. I don't know the history of the Montour trail, but I remember a neighbor fighting for that as it was part of his work commute long before I was aware of the trail.

If that was a neighbor, send them a note and see if they'll get on here and post up the story. I'd love to hear (read). If they could get that thing done, it seems like someone who oughta be part of this thing.

Sloaps

Sign says 'motor vehicles only' when approaching the tubes.

It used to be there was a walkway on the side of one (maybe both) of the Liberty Tunnels. Looking at the pic, I don't see how there could have been room for it, but there was.

I guess they had problems with carbon monoxide and lead, when they did let people walk through there.

It would be great if there was some bike-legal tunnel through that damned hill.

Mick

The 279 HOV lane should really be open to bikes. It's two lanes right? Why not install a bike lane or sharrows and let the cars take the left lane? I know a few people who would consider biking from the north if they had access to something like that.

HOV: It's closed to car traffic in the middle of the day. That'd be the time to make it available to cyclists.

Liberty Tubes: Two-word answer: Wabash Tunnel. I gotta get on Port Authority's case about that, but my hands have been full on other issues.

Is that rail line abandoned that parallels Saw Mill Run Blvd from the West End Circle to West Lib Ave? There sure doesn't look like there's much traffic on it where it crosses Steuben St.

Unless otherwise specified (like around Neville Island) bicycling is prohibited on Interstate Highways and most limited access State Highways. So, all of the I- routes are technically off limits to bikes, unless there is signage officially authorizing their use. State Routes like Route 51, 19, etc are all fine to ride, unless there is signage specifically prohibiting use by bicyclists.

Hey Swalfoort, I started reading some of the airport corridor/Robinson transportation studies at ACTA, and noticed a Wolfoort (?) on the list of "stakeholders". That you?

That'd be me......

Cool. I don't know where I was during all that public process, must have had my head under a rock.

I agree that the Wabash tunnel would be a good bike tunnel. Hell, the Liberty Tubes in Rush Hour would be much faster by bike than by car... And I highly doubt a cop is gonna catch you since Moses had an easier time parting the Red Sea than some cop is going to have parting the traffic lines to catch up to a cyclist in the tunnels then.

Are there even 10 drivers in a single day using the Wabash tunnel? And also, if the tunnel is 2 lanes wide, and they restrict drivers to one direction at a time... Do they keep the drivers in a single lane in that tunnel? I can't remember since I've only used it once or twice. Isn't there an empty lane at any given time in that thing anyway that could be used by cyclists?

Doesn't the Dirty Dozen route go through the Liberty Tubes?

Semi-related, here's a video of a guy going through the Holland Tunnels in NYC during rush hour on his bike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceCOy-RM3DU&feature=player_embedded