Comments on: Action Alert: Help Secure Funding for this Much Needed Connection!

By: 11spasmodica11

11spasmodica11 — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:27:36 +0000

So I was riding up Fifth yesterday and, as I always do, stopping and moving aside when the buses come up so they can pass me. The one driver stops next to me and opens his door and yells “you can’t ride in the bus lane!” I was sort of stunned that he was stopping a bus full of people to yell at me when I was moving aside for him out on my bike in 20 degree wether. Then he sayd “ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!” I said “Yeah, but there isn’t anything I can do about it now.” He said “Yeah there is you can turn around!” and then moved in front of me, driving extra slow so I suppose I would not be able to go up the hill any further. He apparently expected me to turn around and go all the way back to move onto the death-ride that is Forbes.

That guy obviously felt powerful after that whole thing. But, I am really starting to get sick of this crap. No matter how polite I am to people there is always some jerk waiting to start something for no reason (I wasn’t inconveniencing him in any way).

Funny thing is, luckily, the cops have never bothered me. Yet, the bus driver, whose bills I pay, whose fares I rally to support, wants to make my life difficult for the sake of rules.

Sorry, just needed to vent. I don’t know if anyone else has had similar problems with the drivers. But, there’s one guy who really needs to get a life. I have written to everyone I can on this. Hopefully they will do more to fix this situation.

By: Kordite

Kordite — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 15:45:32 +0000

The new Pittsburgh Bike Map says “You are allowed to ride the sidewalk on Fifth Ave next to the bus lane”, that makes that as close to an official bike lane as it’s going to get. I made a posting at your Flickr photoset but figured I’d mention it here that you (and anyone else) should post pictures of the cars parked illegally there at http://pittsburgh.mybikelane.com/ Perhaps the greater documentation will encourage TPTB to take action.

By: justinc

justinc — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:57:11 +0000

Concerned Citizen :
I’m writing regarding the bike lane on the birmingham bridge.. i wanted to congratulate the city on taking cyclists more seriouslyand it’s greatly appreciated. as it was the bridge was always a terror for many people i know who commute that way. that said, theway back to oakland seriously needs attention, either with a rehabilitated - wider sidewalk - or a bike lane giving us a safe wayback into oakland. you made it half way, now follow through please! forbes ave is too dangerous to ride on.

Richard Meritzer (Richard.Meritzer@city.pittsburgh.pa.us):

I would love to take the credit for the improvements on te4h Birmingham Bridge, but this is the result of a lot of work by BikePittsburgh. They worked tirelessly with PennDOT to make these improvements happen.As for Forbes Avenue, this summer we drafted a report on bicycling in Oakland and held a meeting. We are going to be evaluatingthe feedback from that meeting and making recommendations. I will put you on our mailing list so that you can become part of theprocess

By: erok

erok — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:45:22 +0000

I’ve never been to albuquerque, and didn’t know that it was making strides to accommodate bikes. We’re always looking for cities to compare ourselves to in this town as we aren’t really innovators with things like street design, planning, etc. this city doesn’t seem to like being compared to progressive cities like sf, portland, etc, unless it’s in their favor.
we’ve been using louisville as an example recently as there are alot of similarities between our two urban areas.

By: bikeculturetheory

bikeculturetheory — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:16:58 +0000

Thanks for your response to my questions posted last week. You are right, and I see now the unfortunate predicament that requires gunning for a ’sidewalk/bike-lane’ compromise rather than road space per the already-past re-engineering. And your point regarding the wealth of Pittsburgh vis-a-vis SF and Chicago is well-taken; even here in SF we find ourselves with a newly re-designed and well-paved Third Street down the entire eastern edge of the city with a new light-rail line but absolutely no space (not even a berm, let alone a bike lane or sharrows) for cyclists due to similar reasons that you site for 5th ave–the bike coalition simply did not get on board and give input when the planning was underway for the 3rd street re-design.

Perhaps Albuquerque would be a better model for us to consider regarding bike lanes and on-street bike infrastructure as New Mexico and ABQ as state and city are relatively poor places as well, and ABQ has achieved at least a modest amount of cycling infrastructure, including a number of miles of striped lanes (see http://www.cabq.gov/bike/).

This direct relationship between cycling infrastructure and city revenues (read per capita wealth) is a rather unfortunate one, as in most places (even in SF) it is the working classes that often use bicycles for everyday transportation.

By: erok

erok — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:26:30 +0000

I just added a photo (above) of a wheelchair user forced into the buslane. I sure hope she doesn’t get a ticket.

By: imakwik1

imakwik1 — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 05:04:30 +0000

call me crazy but i actually find forbes to be a little less nerve-wracking with the construction… not that it justifies the ride… there is also a sidewalk that goes up the side of forbes all the way to ophelia street and then under the blvd, if anyone was interested in the sidewalk route

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:06:26 +0000

It kills me that the city has no money for this side walk, but spent close to 2 weeks on a sidewalk in Polish hill that no one every uses.

The sidewalk on Brereton on the busway side needed a bit of repair due to a bit of a land slide down into the hollow, but otherwise was perfectly serviceable. I know as walked it quite often with kids in a stroller. The side walk on the other side was NEVER used, mainly because it makes more sense to cross the street at the intersection of Brereton and 30th(4 way stop) rather than walk down to the bridge on 28th and try to cross there with no stop signs.

I live a few blocks away and even I didn’t want this fixed. Who makes these decisions?

By: clanzw

clanzw — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:00:35 +0000

joshuamarx, just a thought assuming you don’t already know about it, from Oakland to Downtown, try Panther Hollow Trail accessed via Boundary Street to Eliza Furnace (Jail Trail) and avoid Forbes/Fifth corridor all together.

By: bjanaszek

bjanaszek — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:47:01 +0000

I noticed this morning, coming into work in the South Side via 5th and the Birmingham Bridge, that there are “No Parking Between 7am and 9am” signs along 5th west of Craft (where the “bike lane” begins). There was not a parking place to be found along the road though. Does the city even care about this stretch of road?