BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The Liberty Bridge sidewalk is fine. The staircase on the downtown end is near the corner of Ross St and Second Ave. That will take you straight to the McArdle sidewalk without having to think about traffic. You can get to the same spot from Arlington by walking under the bridge. I don't think there is a direct connection down to East Carson itself.

You can also ride down from East Carson on 10th St until you reach the lower portion of McCardle, which has a decent shoulder and a mild grade. This takes you to an intersection with Arlington Ave and then to the Liberty tunnel/bridge intersection, which you cross and then immediately get on the sidewalk to continue up McCardle. I should note that this last intersection is activated by a sensor, son unless there's cars wanting to turn into the outbound tunnel or continuing up McCardle, you won't get a light. This makes the Liberty bridge sidewalk route even more convenient. No only are you separated from other vehicle traffic, but you avoid at least 5 traffic lights, if coming from downtown

Also there is a somewhat hidden staircase that goes from Arlington (under the bridge) up to the McArdle sidewalk. It is nice for avoiding the McArdle/Liberty intersection.

Does anyone else think it's weird that they didn't extend the sidewalk down the blvd of the allies ramp to grant st so that it could be ada accessible instead of having a staircase at ross st? My personal preference is taking the 10th street bridge to pj mcardle. Though, it seems that smithfield to e. carson to arlington to stairs under liberty bridge to pj mcardle could possibly be faster, but STAIRS!

Mt. Washington resident here. I definitely recommend the Liberty Bridge sidewalk. It feels safer to me than going from 10th Street up lower McArdle for several reasons (I've gone both ways): 1. Cars almost always speed up the hill 2. You have to cross Arlington across the trolley tracks 3. You have to cross the LB/McArdle intersection to get to the sidewalk and this can be an issue during rush hour when the right lane outbound on the bridge is "Right turn only", and you have to be vigilant that no one is going to just turn into you... If you are doing this soon, be careful of the glass on the sidewalk shortly after you ascend the Ross staircase and also of the gravel at the end of the bridge at the bottom of McArdle...

@benzo, that seems odd to me, too, but the sidewalk on the Liberty Bridge doesn't really take you anywhere other than the entrance to the tubes. From there, your choices as a pedestrian are to continue up almost a mile to the top of McCardle, or to get on Arlington via the super secret staircase and under the bridge on an uneven surface to then somehow cross to the sidewalk on the other side of Arlington Ave. The whole route from BOTA to Grandview Ave is essentially a ~1.5 mile limited access walkway. There's probably not enough traffic on it to justify an access ramp. How many people walk/bike on this bridge on a daily basis? I'd be surprised if that number is more than 100

It looks like the sidewalk on the BoA used to go all the way to Oakland too. How great would that be for a ped/bike route.

Thanks for the responses. I think I will take the Liberty Bridge sidewalk. Less cars is good for me. I have never ridden up that road and it looks so nice with the views. Not sure how I will get back down. Probably Sycamore. Thanks again.

On-road McArdle descent is fun, though you will have to pedal a bit to reach the 35 mph speed limit (or go above it). Also, McArdle doesn't offer much of a view until you get to the top. Most of the road is surrounded by trees. However, this makes it a more pleasant climb

> the sidewalk on the Liberty Bridge doesn’t really take you anywhere other than the entrance to the tubes. There used to be sidewalks in the tubes as well, but (as you might guess) they were removed to widen the traffic lanes.

You probably have figured this out by now, but the Liberty Bridge Sidewalk (accessible via stairs at 100 Ross Street) leads seamlessly onto the sidewalk that ascends McArdle. Once on top, you have several options back down. A favorite of mine is to turn right on Grandview and go all the way to the end where you will hit Republic and then Greenleaf. Take Greenleaf all the way down to the West End Bridge and then you can return to the South Side or cross the bridge and return to downtown via the North Shore Trail and various bridges. On the far end of Grandview, across the street from Monterray Bay, check out the monument featuring George Washington and Chief Guyasuta.

Marko: "It looks like the sidewalk on the BoA used to go all the way to Oakland too. How great would that be for a ped/bike route." I somehow missed your post. That is sort of depressing that there was one and now there isn't. UGH, that would have been sweet!

Greenleaf? Wow, I have been up that thing and it is pretty crazy, but down it would be much better I suppose. I will probably be going the other way though because I will be doing this ride on the way to work. I would have gone already, but got a little sick and didn't want to do it not feeling well prior to working. I work physical labor. Thanks all. Looking forward to it.

Greenleaf is a pretty good hill going up and a great ride down. Give it a go, sometime. A film, for your reference, crossing the Liberty Bridge and proceeding onto the McArdle Roadway's sidewalk - 3:02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N8KJKd3gYk

Thanks. Looking forward to the ride.

@fultonco - where do you need to be to get onto that sidewalk? thanks!

Here

Thank-you Mikhail. Here is what it looks like, "in person." https://www.facebook.com/safesouthhills/photos/pb.225535054306950.-2207520000.1439672566./402813749912412/?type=3&theater

I rode up McArdle yesterday. Went up the steps, which are pretty nice actually and road across that very high bridge. I never realized how high that bridge was until I was on that sidewalk. Great views from up there and I stopped a couple of times to soak it in. The city was really busy on the rivers yesterday. Made the turn up the hill which isn't very steep, but longer than I thought it would be. Pretty nice views going up there in spots. I road down Sycamore, but noticed a park on my right that I never saw before, so I went in there and road through it and ended up back on McArdle. Thanks for all the advice. It was a hot day, but fun.

Glad you enjoyed it ! I haven't yet been inside that park on Sycamore. There is another section of Mt. Washington Trails that are in a park along Greenleaf. I'm not sure if they are connected or if there are plans to connect them.

Here's a rough map of the trails. http://mwcdc.org/park/

Thanks Benzo !

Out of curiosity, are the "proposed" bits notional or have any of them been roughed in, or are otherwise passable?

@Ahlir, pretty sure none of the proposed bits are in place yet. The one that goes along the front of Mt. Washington will be a tricky one to put. That is one steep hillside...

I did want to point out something about that park on Sycamore. There were some somewhat shady people there when I went through it. I thought about turning around, but I was already on top of them and didn't want to show a backdown in anyway, even though there were about 8 of them and I was alone. Nothing came about this, but it may make some uncomfortable. I was alone and if they wanted to create a problem for me, they could have, that is for sure. No one else was around. I just thought I would mention this. It may have been a one time thing or maybe it is a bit of a hangout? I don't know. They were getting ready to do some drugs, so I interrupted that, which probably didn't help the vibe. I did ask them something and one answered after a moment of uncomfortable quiet. I just kept moving, but not too fast.

@gg Thanks for alerting (us) me! There are still too many places where this kind of activity goes on. If the trails connected to each other and to on-road bike/ped infrastructure, there would be more bike/ped traffic and the druggies would have to find another place for their activities. The Seldom Seen Greenway, which could connect to the Mount Washington trail system, has a fair amount of graffiti / spray-painting activity, and who knows what else. On our exploration venture of the area, we noted that an increase in people walking and/or biking through would discourage the perpetrators from their artistic endeavors.

I also occasionally run into groups of people congregating in some out-of-the-way place for some unfathomable reason. And I also sometimes yield to the temptation of assuming that they must be up to (down to?) no good. The thing to remember is that the reason they're there is that they don't want any trouble, as might happen in a more public place. (For that they would simply proceed to, say, E. Carson on a Saturday night.) Tangling with you spells trouble, eventually. So act cool and keep moving; don't stare. I had a friend who would occasionally shout out something like "hey, nice shirt!" to make sure they knew we noticed them; but only after were were in the clear. It's satisfying to do (it makes them nervous, in case they had reason to be) though actually I would advise against it.