BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The plans for a possible trail connector along streets run looks really cool. http://www.economicdevelopmentsouth.org/South%20Hills%20Trail%2036x481.pdf

Yes, that does look really cool. I bike on Streets Run regularly and Monday through Friday it leaves a lot to be desired. The road is very narrow at a lot of points and if you aren't going the speed of traffic (read: 30+ miles per hour) and paying close attention to lane position you will have some near-misses. I doubt that there's enough real estate along the rail line for a trail but it would be nice. The proposed trail from Elm Leaf Park in Baldwin to Streets Run would probably yield the biggest improvement per dollar. As is stands the other direct routes into those "north Baldwin" neighborhoods are Glass Run Road and Schute/ Willet Road. Both roads are death traps going uphill due to the blind turns, narrow roads, lack of shoulder, etc.

I was getting a "404 - Not Found" on that link, but i found the document. Let's see if this link works any better.

This sounds interesting. If I can get out of work early enough I will come, although I will need some luck to make it work.

The map for those plans look sa-weeeet! I had been thinking that the south hills would require a few thermonuclear warheads to fix it.

Whoa, you mean I could bike to work on the North Shore from South Park?

You can do that already, just about. The new connection from the middle of South Park to the Montour Trail should open very soon, and then it's just bike trails and safe on-road signed bike connectors until you reach downtown via the Montour Trail, Clairton Connector, and GAP. Of course, the 30 mile route is not super direct, so you might have to leave for work a little early. :-)

Looks like some great trail ideas. That said...seems a little odd that they would use names like "waterfront trail" and "carson street trail" for an official document. If they did any research at all they would know the actual names for those sections. Not trying to say semantics matter, but the fact that they don't know even that basic information makes me question the grounds for the trail alignments they propose. Have they looked at these segments? Are they available (or potentially avail) properties? How realistic is this or is it more "visioning?"

@sara, I attended part of the meeting (I had to leave early), but I would characterize most of the trail plans as visionary at this point. But that’s how these things start. The more realistic activity of trying to map the safer roads in the South Hills (think BP bike map) is also underway; as is trying to get traffic calming features like pedestrian bump outs installed. Also, there was a person from city council Rudiak’s office there, but no other officials from the other municipalities were there. It’s an uphill battle for sure.

Here is the link for what I believe is the accompanying study/proposal, which dates back to 2008. http://www.economicdevelopmentsouth.org/Pedestrian%20Bicycle%20Connector%20Plan.pdf The trail along the Streets Run rail line in Baldwin would likely require serious construction, including excavation, retaining walls and improving a few of the railroad bridges. As you go up the valley it becomes really narrow in a few areas, so much so that even riding a motocross bike beside the track is challenging. I think it would be a little easier, at least in terms of construction/excavation, to build the segments through Hays. The other proposals seem to be fairly straightforward and would just require the powers that be to get behind them and round up the money. The trail from Elm Leaf Park is probably very simple, provided that they can get an easement through the industrial property across from Pittsburgh Mailing. They've been pushing dirt around that site for years and I have no idea what is going on there.

Thanks for the link Jacob, that seems to explain more about where they are thinking of creating the pathways. The Street Run section certainly the most complex, but would be a much-needed link to the GAP.