BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I saw that too. My first thought was graffiti since it looks so haphazard, but it also looks like the original "lanes" were removed and not just obscured by the new marks... maybe it was too confusing?

Forget the painted lines, when and where are we ever going to get a curb cut with some access?

This was discussed and ridiculed in another thread It was intended by the original designer to give it a playful feel if memory serves me right, but it looked much better without them The whole Whole Foods side of that bridge is a clusterfuck with parked cars blocking the sidewalk, no curbcut (jumping over it is stupid and should have been in the design consideration Stef and Colin), a bench where the curbcut should be (if memory serves me right) and the great touch of building tenants putting the parking sign attached to the concrete filled Home Depot bucket

This is something relatively new, Pierce. There originally was a kind of "lane" painted, but now it's a bunch of randomly placed yellow and white arcs. I first noticed it on Saturday, although I don't recall when I last went across there, maybe a few weeks ago.

I haven't ridden over it since I saw that the original lanes were removed this past week, but when I did, I was telling cburch that I was glad that they were gone. He said something about how the artist should have or was supposed to have designed more random lines. I need to check this out today.

Also wish there was a curb cut at the end.

Taken Saturday.

What. The. Crap. Is. That? imho-just pointless.

I like it better than the structured lines, but it was fine with just plain blacktop.

I like it.

Art!

The first time I rode over it, I was very disoriented, but now that I've been over it a couple of times I like it quite a bit.

ohdeargawd ... The *one time* I check out the message board in a long meeting, and I almost lose it. OK, back to work.

So wait, the artist removed the original lines and then added this crap? The curvature of the railing and the shimmering things were a nice focal point; the lines just looks like garish garbage and overpower the other design elements I wonder if the surface texture has been affected

Art. I dig it.

I'm pretty sure this was all in the original design rendering. The absence of a ramp seems like a significant cock-up, though.

Talk about first world problems. A curb cut would be nice though.

The lack of a ramp is an issue; I'd also like to believe that it was in the original design but somehow got left out. Maybe a curb cut or ramp is the next item on the punch list. Does anyone know the people in charge? I should note that the curb cut near the stairs/elevator gets you onto the sidewalk and pointed straight towards the bridge. So far I haven't had to force any pedestrians off...

That is far from art. It just signifies cars rule if you ask me. That is what all those lines mean to me anyway. Looks like crap. Would like it to be plain. Anyway, I ride on the sidewalk a ways to get off the sidewalk when on my bike. I ride across that a few times a week. I would love real access on the parking lot side, but lets face it, the burgh is carsville. Not much anyone can do about that. This isn't Boulder.

@gg: This isn’t Boulder. To me this is a feature, not a bug. I mean I like Boulder and all, but it doesn't really add up to a city with any genuine character (though, of course, some of my best friends, etc). Think of this art as mildly subversive. Maybe even think of the sequence of events as a bit of performance art. First, regimented standard traffic striping. Yuck. Then a breath of fresh air: at the touch of a majic wand, suddenly all that offensive muck is transformed into a lively maze of confusing signs. It's not for making you follow rules across the bridge, it's for your imagination to wander through and waft you to the other side! It's still a bridge, but on so many more levels. Better than the alternatives.

@jonawebb: I like your new avatar.

It's supposed to emulate the lot where the street painting machines get tested and worked on and create haphazard lines all ove the place. The useless "lanes" that were there before were not only completely contrary to the artist's vision, but were down right dangerous if anyone actually felt compelled to obey them as they were way too narrow to be safely used. But please let's all bitch and moan about getting a public art/transportation infrastructure piece devoted to non-motorized use. Also, a curb cut would be nice but I'd rather see the powers that be focus on that death trap intersection where the ground level ramp comes up.

I'd like to jump back to the original complaining about how the grant money that was used was supposed to be for economically distressed areas or something like that

ok, @Pierce. Go for it.

I was hoping that you guys would tell me that it was graffiti. I also find all of the paint disorienting and, well, ugly. But much better than no bridge at all.

After riding across it, I like it.

@Pierce: so you're saying East Liberty is not economically distressed? or just not distressed enough for your tastes?

Good article from City Paper when project first got started. (This article seems to indicate the funding was from the Heinz Endowments, but doesn't mention anything about the condition of "economic distress.") Article does also explain the random striping (and is consistent with cburch's explanation). http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/a-pedestrian-span-in-shadyside-bridges-the-gap-between-form-and-function/Content?oid=1339787

I like it, its fun.

I like to sit and read on the bench right by the bridge. I've heard a lot of comments about the new look, mostly negative. But the people who enjoy it and comment positively about it make me smile.

TeamDecaf wrote:I like it, its fun.

Simple black top is also fun and art. just ask Malevich. :)

I think it's beautiful

@JaySherman5000 Oh no Jay, there's plenty of economic distress, but that bridge isn't doing jack shit for the people who fall under that umbrella Is this distressed enough for you? http://walnutcapital.com/properties/walnut-on-highland/

It's fun! The lanes before were pretty useless and the art seems to poke fun at it, in a way.