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Car Accident at Penn, Butler & 34th this morning.

1. 

   dmtroyer
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   Had the red and was waiting inbound on Penn Ave up the hill. Some jackass on butler pulls ALL the way up to Penn Ave (like they always do) as Penn Ave light turns green. SUV beside me proceeds down the hill. Jackass times it juuuust right to turn left into Penn Ave traffic heading for 34th street and the SUV t-bones him.

   I stopped to give my information. Jackass that was t-boned gets out and is completely oblivious to the fact that he did anything wrong. Even the SUV driver didn't seem to be exactly sure what had happened. It didn't help that some random person on the sidewalk comes up and starts talking about someone that sped away (had NOTHING to do with the accident) But, I ride through this intersection almost every day and knew exactly what happened. After a couple close calls I use extreme caution here.

   I sent a 311 for them to address this intersection. People just don't have any clue how to navigate it safely, much less legally.

2. 

   StuInMcCandless
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   This is another place we need someone with a video camera and a clipboard, recording all the stupidity for later follow-up with police, media, whatever.

3. 

   quizbot
   

   frequenter
   

   
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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   I hit this intersection almost every day too, and it's pretty sketchy. Even with a green coming down Penn, I slow way down and hang toward the center stripes because of the potential threat from Butler.

   I'd probably take Liberty to town more often if the BBT/Main/Liberty intersection would improve. But I do feel safer going down Liberty at 35 mph than Penn... more of a risk with the lame side street visibility on Penn.

4. 

   Swalfoort
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   We did bike counts at this location in September. I was surprised at the number of cyclists. To keep myself amused between cyclists I tried to document unusual or interesting activity. I noticed some of this behaviour while I was there. I shared my observations about bicycle activity, unusual motorist behaviour and unusual pedestrian behaviour with Patrick Dowd, City Councilperson for that area, later that day.

   Don't know where that gets us, exactly, but it's a start.

5. 

   dmtroyer
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   But I do feel safer going down Liberty at 35 mph than Penn... more of a risk with the lame side street visibility on Penn.

   Hmm, interesting. I usually take Penn because I feel safer coming down the hill on Penn if there is traffic to keep with. If I'm by myself in the lane I feel pretty exposed. I've been left hooked twice coming down Liberty and have avoided it since. That said, I really hate Penn through garfield... I usually just take the lane to avoid the door zone and accompanying terrible blacktop.

6. 

   Lyle
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   quizbot - ditto that. I hang out in the center all the way down Penn because of all the crossing madness. You might hear me muttering "don't even THINK about it" at all the drivers threatening to pull out or turn across me, though I doubt they do.

   Personally, I think the risk on Penn is far greater than that of the intersection at Main&Liberty, though I don't ride either one as often since I moved. I used Penn because it was a little faster given where I lived, but preferred Liberty.

   dmtroyer - obeying the lights and signs would seem to be enough, wouldn't it? The light on Butler is not green at the same time as the light on Penn. Your jackass must have run the red (or orange) on Butler, I think. Maybe the guard interval should be longer, but that will only work for a little while. I've never been left-hooked on Liberty. Would you mind if I rode in to work with you some day soon to see if there's anything I can observe about *why*? Might just be time of day, or that Liberty may have got worse lately.

7. 

   netviln
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   I ride Liberty every day from Friendship into downtown. I have never had any issues, but you do have to watch for doors since there is no buffer between the bike lane and the parked cars. I also always run my lights so maybe im a bit more visible.

8. 

   dmtroyer
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   @netviln @lyle both times I was left hooked was an auto making a left from outbound Liberty onto 32nd. I normally turn onto 31st towards Penn or Railroad from Liberty if I'm heading inbound.

9. 

   netviln
   

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   Posted 8 months ago
   

   Ahh, I usually take 32nd to penn, but I havent had any issues yet with a car there, however, I would think that cars probably underestimate how fast cyclists are going there. I am usually doing 30+ after I pass heron and maintain that speed to 32nd.

10. 

    Lyle
    

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    Posted 8 months ago
    

    Ah. I have had a few moments at the intersection with Ligonier, with a good head of steam
    from coming down the hill, wondering if the left-turning driver would misjudge my speed. So far none have. But by the time I get down to 32d street, I'm probably back to 18 mph or so. Not like the old days when I could use the momentum to sustain 26-28 all the way to 16th Street. (And then suck wind at the red light...)

11. 

    dmtroyer
    

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    Posted 8 months ago
    

    Unbelievable. Almost saw the exact same accident this morning. Thankfully the driver on Penn had the wherewithal to stop in time.

12. 

    dmtroyer
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    Looks like this intersection's traffic lights are being re-configured! (By re-configured I mean brand new lights)

13. 

    rsprake
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    I think if that intersection was better designed I would bike over to Butler for lunch more often.

14. 

    StuInMcCandless
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    Swalfoort, I wonder if your traffic counts and/or your comments to Mr. Dowd had anything to do with the change to the light.

    Or was it Bike-Pgh's awesomeness of now being within sight of the place that made the mojo happen?

15. 

    sloaps
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    are they just upgrading the lights to LED, or are they installing new poles, lights, processors, loop detectors, pavement markings, etc?

16. 

    cburch
    

    frequenter
    

    
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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    new poles. plus they are putting one in the middle of the intersection. looks like they might finally signal it in a way that makes sense instead of leaving the confusing no-man's-land of the actual intersection for everyone to figure out on their own.

17. 

    erok
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    yeah, light is supposted to go in on 34th st. you should stop in and say hi at our new office right there!

18. 

    cburch
    

    frequenter
    

    
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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    you guys should set up a little water station with a workstand and a couple tools wired to it in the summer. have some stickers and the free maps out there along with maybe cheapo tubes and tires. think charity ride rest stop in miniature. i bet you would sign up tons of kids in lawrenceville that are just getting into commuting and weekend riding.

19. 

    erok
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    you're on our page.

20. 

    dmtroyer
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    how late are you guys usually there?

21. 

    erok
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    depends on the day, usually 5:30, 6ish. we definitely are there to see all the cyclists commuting home up Penn Ave

22. 

    spakbros
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    Not to be a negative nancy, but any unmanned water/tool station on a sidewalk will immediately become infested with crackheads trying to steal everything that's not bolted down.

    just sayin

23. 

    rsprake
    

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    Posted 4 months ago
    

    I rode over to Dozen this afternoon and was going to stop by. I wanted to just ride my bike right in, ride through the office and ride right back out.

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