BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Sorry, sent as PM instead.

incidentally, this could potentially be one of those instances where people would use the roads if they could. i'm not sure what usage that area sees, as i'm usually on the other side of mount washington, but i know a lot of that area is very discouraging to cyclists. as such, current usage may not always be the best way to gauge the effect of enhancements. if you build it, they will come, don't you know?

Gregory,

Thanks for introducing a great subject. While I neither live nor work in that part of town, it's one of the few I have yet to visit by bicycle, for the very reasons HiddenVariable alluded to.

The phrase I use to describe places like this is "completely inaccessible to humans except by automobile". Certain private developments are worse (think Ross Park Mall), but as a set of public streets, this has my vote as particularly unfriendly to anything not in a car.

If you want a specific suggestion, add a bike climbing lane on the cross streets, and post "Bikes Use Entire Lane" signs on the downhill sides.

However, I realize this is nigh impossible. A Google Street View of Wenzell eastbound, a couple hundred yards east of Banksville, shows that there just isn't any room for adding anything here, and the staircases on the sidewalk make it unusable for bikes.

You could still post the downhill signs, though.

I'm with Stu on this one - I frequented this stretch of road for the last two years in my car. I'd be pretty scared to bike or walk it. Aside from the fact that the roads are narrow, Carnahan generally has really, really awful potholes. So drivers do a lot of swerving and driving in the oncoming lane to avoid wrecking their front ends.

If biking or walking, I'd probably choose Potomac as a safer alternative route. Are there any thoughts for improvements that we could chime in on? I'm pretty stumped as there isn't much room to widen in that area.

There's another thread discussing the unuseability of Banksville Rd for cycling. I would simply say plus 1 to the above posts. I live a couple of miles from there, no way would I ride there.

There is, however, the six-inch-wide solution: Install wheel guides on the uphill sidewalk (PDF, page 2 photo).

The street is much too steep for anyone but the most hearty to climb -- I mean, c'mon, Canton Ave is only a block or two away -- but a good many more can push a 25-pound bike up a ramp.

incidentally, i looked at a map, and it turns out i have, in fact, biked up carnahan, and that portion of wenzell (to get to boustead). nice little hills, though quite difficult to get to, and rather scary to be near, especially on banksville.

Stu's suggestion about grooves for bikes next to the stairs strikes me as inexpensive and effective. A elegant solution.

I'd like to suggest a number of high budget things, though.

Banksville Rd represents all that is ugly about auto-oriented development.

On the other hand, the topology is a dream for cycling. A gradual, rail-to-trail type grade from near-river level to close to one of the highest points around? Yum.

The best solution would be to make a bike trail up the Banksville valley.

Open the Wabash tunnel to bikes. Provide bike access to the North part of Banksville from the Wabash as well as the West End.

Make the Banksville bike trail all the way up to the corner of McFarland and W. Liberty/Washington Rd.

For the hills up the sides of Banksville? Erok posted this in "Things pampered Europeans get:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1PgmMbug8

That would take care of the hills with a narrow sidewalk width of new structure.

This is very, VERY costly of course.

The politics necessary to get a right of way up Banksville would also be prohibitive.

The home owners in the communities served by Banksville are committed car owners. Roads for cars? Government's patriotic duty. Roads for bikes? Socialist conspiracy from the UN. I wish I was kidding.

People do not put their businesses on Banksville in order to be environmentally friendly. Some of the Banksville business owners would spend their fortunes opposing a bike trail -even if it would bring them money. They believe in the automotive way of life and are willing to fight for it.

It would revolutionize bike travel in Pittsburgh, though.

Socialist conspiracy from the UN. I wish I was kidding. He's not.

+1 on the Wabash Tunnel. Whatever we need to do to strong-arm Port Authority to change its mind on Wabash, PLEASE help us. If you can help us, or know who can help us, PM me.

I've used Crane instead of Carnahan/Wenzell, and found that pretty hairy too. The last time someone asked me to help her find a bike-commute route to Banksville Rd, I told her to find a new job instead. She did.

crane is horrible. crazy steep, so you're moving like a snail, some sort of thruway, so cars are zipping by as fast as they can, narrow, no shoulder, and a treacherous and deep gutter for most of the way. i always feel like i'm taking my life into my hands when i go up that way.

Man. I want to ride my bike to Beto's! Mmmm slimy pizza.

I don't know Crane as well as Wentzell and Coast, but all of them are on the same hillside as our famous Canton Ave. (gmpghwork, if the significance of this street to the cycling community is not known to you, one or two or 150 people on this board will be happy to fill you in.)

I took a little drive around Crane using Google Street View; I've been on it in a car maybe 5 times since early 2009.

Two words to describe cycling here: Fucking ridiculous. Seems to me about the only thing you COULD do is take the lane, climbing, and let everyone blow their horns until their solenoids melt. Crane doesn't even have a sidewalk to add wheel guides to.

Yeah, that's what I do. I don't think I've ever had any one honk, though. Perhaps they're just too slack-jawed to bother.