BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The piece-of-shit crushed gravel dog walking path between the apartments and the river, from Eatnpark+- east to the beginning of the candled bike lane, is not a bike path, and should not be permitted to be construed as one. Whomever has the confidence to ride vehicularly, I humbly request that you ride in the street through this area and take the lane. There are 5 lanes for traffic through this big box utopia, they can share.

+lots

It would not be that difficult to make a trail that connected the trail by sandcastle, staying on that side of the road as a protected bikeway with bollards and hopping under the high level bridge on the track side and connecting up with amity street so you could actually access homestead easily. You could even put a bike trail in between the two sets of railroad tracks between amity st and Office Furniture Closeouts to connect back up to the trail. The trick with both of those is cooperation with the railroad...

Yeah, I take the road. You can also ride between the big-box stores and the railroad tracks.

"+lots" +lotsmore. I haven't been back on that thing in over a year. Hate it. I enjoy dancing with the cars much more.

The road behind the stores is the simplest alternative. If you fire up Google Maps and zoom in enough you will see the route (at some point this route became invisible at wide scale; a conspiracy). The limestone trail along the river is marked in brown, not green, which the legend identifies as "Dirt/unpaved trails". I would take that as a hint.

^Thanks for the tip on the back road! I never would have guessed you could get through back there.

I can't complain. I've rode through there a few times it's not bad. I'm glad we have a connected trail now.

I usually just ride on the road. The trail is a nice addition though for slower riders, children, or me when I'm tired. It's probably miserably muddy at the moment though.

We were there last weekend, rode from Jailtrail to Kennywood and back, with a stop to stock up at Costco (note: this is a good way to avoid buying too much at Costco, you have to think about how you're going to get all the stuff home). The limestone path behind the restaurants and apartments was pretty firm, squishy in spots. But it wasn't awful.

The Waterfront Trail (crushed limestone along the river) is quite bikeable now, but there have been some problems with teen gangs or groups at the Waterfront, in recent weeks: "teens have been gathering at the Waterfront since weekend age restrictions were implemented at Monroeville Mall after a shooting there" http://www.wtae.com/news/police-teens-gather-at-waterfront-prompting-police-presence-after-monroeville-mall-age-restrictions/31970394 http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmckeesport/yourmckeesportmore/8039325-74/waterfront-police-steel#axzz3VSAYOsPa

Were they on bicycles?

thanks Paul!

Teen gangs -- reminds me of the 60s. Or maybe the 50s. I wonder if they practice synchronized dances like the Jets and the Sharks. Seriously, anything that gets kids out of the house...

If we had bikeshare at the Waterfront, maybe some of those teens, looking for something to do, could hop on a bike and bike to Kennywood & back, for fun & exercise.

Except there is no easy route from the trail to kennywood, which is totally not cool.

they don't want you to ride a bike They want you to Pay for parking

@Benzo Except there is no easy route from the trail to kennywood There used to be a passable route from the Whitaker metal sign (just SE of the Rankin Bridge on PA837) down to the area that now has the trail. Is that still passable? Anyone know? That would still leave almost 2 miles on Kennywood Blvd. I guess what I'm really asking is: Is there an easy way to get from the Rankin Bridge to the trail?

From Rankin bridge to the trail ... Go another 1000' west (toward downtown) on 837 and take the flyover/ramp into The Waterfront. Turn right at the first opportunity, which is the Marcegaglia driveway, and immediately right onto the trail. (If you went any farther, you'd enter the cycle track)

If it was me doing that I would just go on the trail to Grant Street at the Duquesne business park and backtrack. Somehow 837 seems a mite less crazy going that way. And it's a mite shorter also.

I have some bad news and not-so-bad(?) news. Bad news: the hays eagles have lost BOTH eggs, they'll not have a brood this year. Not-so-bad(?) news: fewer birdwatchers on the trail out to the Waterfront.

@Mick asked "Is there an easy way to get from the Rankin Bridge to the trail?" @edmonds59's route is longest, @MaryShaw's is medium length, and the following is shortest, but unpaved. See a map I made at http://goo.gl/lT0LWO and look at the "Rankin Bridge Connector - existing" route there.

Be Advised This section of Kennywood Blvd 837 is a Dangerous stretch where average traffic speeds are above 40 mph

@cowchip ... and shoulders are scant, and sightlines are short.

they don’t want you to ride a bike They want you to Pay for parking Nothing from the half dozen or so visits I made to Kennywood via bicycle last year is consistent with that statement. We had season passes for 2014 and locked our bikes as close to the main entrance as we could each time we went. We also biked down 837 after crossing the Rankin Bridge to get there. Yes, the traffic was swift-moving, but it was only for a couple of miles and >95% of the cars seemed to give us plenty of space. There's actually a stretch of 837 that has enough of a shoulder that you can put your wheels over the fog line if that makes you more comfortable. The ride back from Kennywood has a bit of downhill false flat where we were able to easily top 20 mph, reducing the difference between our speed and the motorists around us. If more cyclists rode out there regularly, it would probably get a bit safer since drivers would expect us. Idea: FOC, CM, or some other group should ride from the Waterfront to Kennywood. Or downtown to Kennywood. Paging @StuinMcCandless?

^Thanks for the tip on the back road! I never would have guessed you could get through back there.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/4298454 -- this is my yesterday's ride after work. Look for miles 6-7.5.

When it isn't so damn frigid, I might take a scouting ride out there after work. It would be helpful to have someone more knowledgeable with the area along for support. But yes, such a ride would be ideal for CM to tackle.