BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Sorry, forgot to mention that this route is to go into Oakland, in the afternoon I would be taking the T most of the way back, since I'd be getting on at around 3pm or so.

I'm out of my comfort zone in the South Hills, so treat this idea with suspicion...but a wild suggestion is to come across the Glenwood Bridge instead, to 2nd Ave and up the trail & Neville etc.

I know that if you get to Brentwood or Baldwin, Streets Run or Glass Run are ok routes.

This is just to consider all options. It's true second ave isn't wonderful.

Several years ago a proposal was discussed to build a trail,(Chartiers Creek biking and hiking trail) going from Mckees Rocks to Cannonsburg.This proposed bike/hike trail would run near Mount Lebanon.Unfortunately,I never heard anything new?? Maybe in the future you will be able to bike into the city from Mount Lebanon,but who knows how long that will be??

i don't really know the way once you're on the other side of mt. washington, but when you're up there, i would take a different route. boggs is probably the preferred way to get up from the other side (it's a long hill, so never gets as steep as, say, sycamore).

after that, i would probably, depending on the time of day and traffic considerations, make the left onto wyoming to go into mt. washington proper, then head down mcardle from there. i would NOT go up mcardle, but a) i like going up sycamore, and 2) i don't like going up a giant long hill with miles of traffic beeping behind me, and no shoulder for me to get out of the way. from there, it's an easy shot to the trail via 1st/mckean st. if you want to stay on the southside, or you could head over the smithfield street bridge and hit the trail the proper way.

an alternative is to take boggs to bailey and continue on instead of making that left onto william. that turns into beltzhoover, which will take you to warrington, which you then ride about four blocks alongside streetcar rails, then you would turn left onto brosville. once you take that down into the southside, i would likely stay on back streets (sarah, jane, etc.) until you can find your way through the construction to the hot metal bridge.

i've somehow never ridden on william st. but that stretch of arlington that it hits is definitely somewhere i'd avoid if i could.

I do Mt Lebanon to downtown daily and I find West Liberty to be the best option. It has numerous faults, but it is > 2 lanes wide in each direction and there is no on street parking in the busy direction during rush hour (at least not with all 4 wheels on the road). With Pioneer and Broadway on the other side you have a narrower road with a lot more parking, and Pioneer offers a good sized extra climb. I personally fear parked cars more than traffic, and I don't think West Liberty is any worse then Penn or 5th if you have ridden that area.

Going over Mt Washington, I like Southern better than Boggs (next street over) because the bottom section is a little flatter, but if you go over toward the 10th St bridge as you indicate Boggs is probably better for you. Boggs definitely has the better pavement.

I cross at the Smithfield St bridge, and go up and down Sycamore, but before I had a triple chainring I went up and down McCardle. Going down you can go as fast as traffic and stay well out in the lane. Going up, use the sidewalk as it is smoother and less debris strewn than the road. But again, going over the 10th st bridge, some of the roads farther east may be a better option for you. I agree with HV and would definitely avoid the Warrington/Arlington stretch with the T tracks.

My schedule is a little erratic, but if you want to pick a day and can leave between 7:30 and 8:00 from the library/Southminster parking lot, I'd be happy to ride in with you as far as our routes overlap to get you started. You can use the Private Message link to send me some mail.

Thank you so much for the input everyone. From what I've read elsewehre, and thanks to your replies, it seems like West Liberty is best, with McCardle being a good option for going Mt Washington.

bd, thank you for the offer. I may take you up on it. Will send a private message.

Thank you again everyone!

to pick up on Hidden Variable's Mt. Washington route

I propose this: Route from Mt. Washington to Oakland. It's pretty flat through Mt. Washington to the end of East Warrington. 18th street is not steep through this section - from 6% to 8% - and Josephine is a quicker route to Birmingham Bridge or Bike Trails, than immediately jumping down onto Carson.

Does the riverfront trail go all the way from Station Square to the Birmingham bridge? Is there an exit from the trail that dumps you onto the bridge? Sloaps route looks better time wise, I'm just curious about the trail.

You need to get off the trail at 18th or so, then cut across Sydney or Wharton (which are low traffic) to get to the bridge.

Best choice might be take the trail to the Hot Metal Bridge, then come up through Schenley Park. Going into Oakland from the Birmingham Bridge is sketchy at best. See the other thread about this....

Ditto. The Birmingham Bridge from Oakland to East Carson isn't so bad, but coming the other way leaves you slogging your way uphill on a high-speed road with poor sight lines. At least it used to, I haven't been there in a few years so maybe it's better?

Hey, I live in Mt Lebo. Let me know if you want to give me a call and meet up.

IMO,

W Liberty is fine, esp going down in the morning. You'll be moving about as fast as traffic and left turns in front of you will be limited. It's pretty quick.

Pioneer is nice but people can't pass you so expect some close shaves and angry drivers. Plus there's a high speed blind turn in front of you near the bottom. Not fun.

From there you have two choices. One is Up Bausman. It's a nice climb. S18th down terrifies me. Tons of left turn in front of you opportunities plus dealing with the South Side. From there you can take the South Side trail to Jail Trail to Panther Hollow. It's the faster option.

Or go up Southern (Boggs is steeper) then down McArdle and pick up the South Side trail. This is a bit slower, time wise.

I like William St a lot, going both directions. It's only steep at the bottom where it touches Arlington. And it's very scenic.

By the way, how does mapmyride.com compare to bikely?

By the way, how does mapmyride.com compare to bikely?

I find the interface to be a little too busy. Some of the features are nice (like elevation profile), but overall, I prefer Bikely.

Somehow, we need to convince Port Authority to not only allow but encourage use of bicycles in the Wabash Tunnel. I can't speak for everyone, but given the choice of riding *through* Mt. Washington instead of *over* it, regardless of the grade, I'd much prefer the flat method. And there really isn't another flat way to get from south to north without going waaay out of the way. And friggin' *nobody* uses that tunnel.

From my perspective, in order to bike the Wabash tunnel several things must occur:

1. Independent traffic study on the current use of the tunnel. Who uses it, how often and at which times of the day?

2. Exhaustive and truthful survey of cyclists in the southern communities who would *absolutely* (not maybe, not kinda sorta) use the tunnel and why they would use it (commuting, errands, health, etc.).

3. Lobby for the Port Authority to decommission the tunnel, and transfer the ownership to the city of pittsburgh or allegheny county based on the outcomes of items 1 and 2 above. Whereas, the city or county would be responsible for safety (cops, fire, EMS) and maintenance of the facilities (public works).

In this litigious society, the port authority will not let cyclists into their HOV thoroughfares unless there is at least a physical separation between HOV traffic and the cyclists - curbs, barriers, bollards, retaining walls, etc. Additionally, the design, build, maintenance and operation of infrastructure that does not absolutely carry bus or rail traffic is not in the Port Authority's scope of services, and it shouldn't be.

The only way I see the Port Authority allowing cyclists in the Wabash is by disallowing transit and passenger vehicles. If this is the conclusion of the Port Authority, as well, then it would follow my argument for transferring ownership to a government or authority which would receive funding for maintenance or upgrades to convert to bicycle only traffic. It would be a hard sell to the state for a transit authority requesting funds for capital improvements to infrastructure that cannot service mass transit or its ridership.

Let the Port Authority contend with funding and operating bus and rail service. That is already hard enough for them. The County and then the City - in that hierarchy - has a better shot at receiving state and federal funds to operate and maintain a bicycle only tunnel.

The main reason why PAT(port authority transit)is against cyclists using the Wabash tunnel,HOV bus lanes,and have bike racks on their buses is MONEY!!.They want to make it as difficult as possible for cyclists to get around so they will use PAT!! Anyone who doesn't believe this is extremely naive.I have a retired Pat driver 3 doors down from where I live and stated this to me.

P.S.....Also forgot to mention that having bike racks on busses also defeats the purpose of exercise and enjoyment, besides the profit for Port Authority.

I ride between Mt. Lebanon and the Southside Works ever Saturday morning. From the Castle Shannon end of Lebo I take: 88 to 51 to Maytide to Biscayne. Over Brownsville road, down Becks Run to Carson Street. From there you could take the Hot Metal bridge or alternate to get across the river. Carson between Becks Run and the Soutside Works is a little tight (no shoulders, with guardrails). If you are leaving from the Dormont end of Lebo, take McNeily to 88.