Has there ever been any thought given to installing mirrors at those blind corners where the Eliza Furnace Trail connection meets 2nd Ave?
Yelling, whistling, or binging your bell are pretty good warnings, but it would be nice to be able to see who's coming.
Yes. I've mentioned it several times on these message boards (1, 2), and I've also e-mailed Stephen Patchan, the city's new bike-ped coordinator, on August 12 about it. He said he'd talk to his supervisor, but I haven't heard anything since.
But I encourage you to e-mail him, too! His address is stephen.patchan, then the "at" sign, then city.pittsburgh.pa.us.
i dont ever take this way anymore....even if mirrors were installed the sidewalk is not big enough for two bikes to fit down comfortably, the mirrors are a good idea but still if you see that bike coming its still a pain to try and get out of each others way...it breaks the flow of a ride....just take 2nd ave...I have learned the timing of the lights at that intersection of greenfield and 2nd, i make a right turn on red when i know no other traffic will be behind me and then i book it down the slight hill and make the very short distance to the trail area...as simple as that...on the way back from the trail i can do the same thing with no problem either.
nickbikes, I agree that generally the best way is to stay on the road, and usually that always works if coming down Greenfield and turning right on Second Ave. But depending on the time of day (i.e., during rush hour), it can be nearly impossible to come down from the trail and turn left on Second Ave. The traffic from both directions is intense, plus there can be cars backed up waiting to do the same thing. That's when I prefer to stay on the trail.
The city had a whole box of those mirrors in the past, but they were broken within two weeks of them being put up/replaced. We can probably get them put up again, but they're not cheap to replace and every time they're broken, broken glass ends up on the trail there. I think a better solution is to redesign the entrance to the trail from Irvine St to and from EFT.
