Friends & I are driving 3 hours to the Pgh. train station, taking the train to DC & riding self-contained back to Pgh. Is there someone in the area that could tell us the best route from the end of the trail in McKeesport back to the train station for the car? Any advice on a route would be greatly appreciated.
I've ridden that area but not recently enough that I can give you reliable advice. Except that the best time to do it is early on a sunday morning. Maybe you should park near the end of the trail, and start your trip by biking to the train station. Or would that be much too early in the AM?
There are several routes from McKeesport to Pittsburgh; all are moderately challenging. I usually do something like taking the East Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard (which is incredibly fun inbound) to East Pittsburgh, then Braddock Avenue into town. I'm not sure if that route is presently open though. Once in Pittsburgh, it's a matter of taking the Jail Trail to Grant Street and riding that to the opposite side of Downtown. Avoid rush hour and that should be fine; the roads around McKeesport usually seem to be sufficiently underpopulated (just like the town) to be OK to me.
Most of the pittsburgh buses ( PAT - Port Authority Transit) have bike racks on the front of the bus. Thers's room to hold 2 bikes ! But not all the buses are equipped yet , but most of them are. If the one that your catching doesn't have a rack you might have to wait for the next bus, depending on the driver and how crowded the bus is. There's probably a bus between Mckeesport and downtown Pit but I'm not familier with the routes out there myself. Here's a link to the PAT web site for scheduals and more info :
http://www.portauthority.org/paac/default.aspx
The triboro is hosed. Not passable.
Take 148 out of mckeesport across the mckeesport
bridge, and turn right onto 837. It is a fast road
with a bit of traffic, but has been ridden a lot
and isnt THAT bad. Follow signs for sandcastle,
keep going to the end of the parkinglot, follow
the tracks for 300 meters find the trail and
ride it into town.
All your responses are appreciated & should make our adventure more enjoyable.
