BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

That's a big job. It took six of us most of a morning to do one side of the West End Bridge one time, most of an afternoon for four to do the Glenwood Bridge a different day. And that's with having a car or truck handy to haul away the many bags of trash we gathered. I can't join you, but if you do go solo on bike alone, or do not get any help, I'd suggest making a series of passes, maybe on different days. One day, just pick up cans and bottles, nothing else. Second day, bring a broom and do broken glass, and nothing else. Third day, fill one trash bag, and stop when you've filled it. Fourth day, bring one more trash bag and start where you left off the previous day. Then if you revisit the bridge a month later, you can probably do the whole thing in one pass. I admire your dedication, but just know that this could end up being a full-time job, and someone should be paying you to do this.

Or the city should be doing this.... Or penn dot.  Or the county. Or whoever is holding the hot potato.

@edronline The thing is, no one has swept the sidewalk for almost two years. There are piles of debris that have been laying there for as long as I can remember. Why don't people just not throw glass bottles and pieces of metal out their windows and onto the sidewalk?

Sometimes I carry a small whisk broom with me when biking, and if I see broken glass on the bridge, I'll sweep it up (usually simply into the river). I've done that on most of the bridges you mentioned. Yale and a number of others have done spot cleanups like that too, over the years. There have also been organized ice and snow shoveling efforts. It's sad that US cities don't routinely do this sort of maintenance. They pay people to clean streets for cars, but they typically don't pay people to clean sidewalks for pedestrians and cyclists.

Try reporting the problem here: https://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/districts/district11/d11ccc.nsf There's a chance it won't do a thing, but it's also possible PennDOT will respond and do the sweeping for you. I've had problems (like detour signs installed so they blocked the sidewalk) fixed that way in the past.

My mom told me that she saw some people with brooms approaching the Highland Park Bridge. Was someone sweeping the sidewalk today around 11:30 AM?

Supposedly, someone did do some picking up of trash from the sidewalk. They left a pile of garbage bags on the grass near the on ramp from Sharpsburg. Also, there is still a small amount of broken glass and stones still on the sidewalk. Could someone give me contact information for me to ask for approval? Thank you.

I wonder if somebody reported the bridge to the PennDOT District 11 website I posted earlier in this thread, and then they went out and did the sweeping. They do have people for this; all we have to do is report the problem.

Transparency is a wonderful thing. If they really did do that, they could hop on Twitter and say "Hey, we just swept the glass off the _____ Bridge, per request of @ ______." Howzbout it, guys?

IME they do keep whoever reported it informed. So maybe it's not someone here who reported it, or maybe it's just regular maintenance; IDK.

I just checked the claim that I made yesterday. Go to https://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/districts/district11/d11ccc.nsf and enter in the box on the  left hand side "20170611-D11-AN8PBV" (Without Quotes)

I jus got back from another ride. I saw this posted on a telephone pole near the bridge. Kudos to Nathan Clark and his team. I would like to also help clean the sidewalk between the bridge and the highway ramp because of varying amounts of debris along it.

Now there is more broken glass on the sidewalk of the Highland Park Bridge. I never did get a response from the email I sent to the address in the above photograph.

Try his Pitt address http://www.csb.pitt.edu/faculty/clark/

I just filed a PennDOT request.

this is about 40th St Bridge, rather than HP, but still good to see. https://twitter.com/Allegheny_Co/status/888122047183806466 (click through for full thread...)

I got an email saying a case was closed and that there was maintenance performed. I wonder if that was on the Highland Park Bridge or was it Allegheny River Blvd.?  Does anyone know? If not, I will report tomorrow. BTW. I do not use Twitter or Facebook.