BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

It could end up like the strip trail. Closed temporarily forever. I can see rough cold patch going down after they do whatever they're gonna do. Utility work probably. They have those night time work lights and spray painted markings on the trail. People are going to have to take more dangerous roads to avoid this. People drive about 60mph on roads at 5am cause there is no traffic. I take the jail trail cause it keeps me out of that traffic headed toward downtown. And yeah those signs went up today. After I went through there to get to work.

EFT update: appears temporary, Birmingham Br to Swinburne lot. All signs this sandbagged-lollipop style. http://t.co/MQt3aDfRQu Additionally, I found no trail-closed signs west of Birmingham Br, not even eastbound, and as stefb noted, work lights along the trail and a bunch of trucks and equipment parked in the lot at Second and Brady, and a couple at the top of the ramp up from that lot. Still, pathetically poor communication at best.

I just checked and the Friends of the Riverfront Trail Status web page http://friendsoftheriverfront.org/trails/three-rivers-heritage-trail/three-rivers-heritage-trail-status/ says: Eliza Furnace Utility Work Duquesne Light will be conducting important reliability-related work in late August on an approximately 1.4-mile section of the Eliza Furnace segment of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail between Brady Street and Swinburne Street. Precautions will be in place during both phases of the project to ensure the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists using the trail. This will take up to 3 months. Construction work will be between 9:00pm and 7:00am. During this timeframe portions of the Trail will be closed to users. Duquesne Light will be completing work on infrastructure that will help maintain reliability in the region. In the first phase of the project, a Duquesne Light contractor will be taking soil samples from Dec. 16 through January 8 in approximately eight locations along the trail. When using equipment to collect the soil samples, a flag person will be on site to help keep traffic moving safely on the trail. In the second phase of the project in 2015, conduit containing electrical lines will be placed under the trail. This work will take up to six weeks. More specifics will be provided once the construction dates are set. Again, a flag person will be on site during the work day and the work area will be covered and appropriately marked during evening hours. Please call Jim Boyle of Duquesne Light at 412-393-7830 with any questions.

Why does this remind me of the paragraph in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" in which the plans to destroy earth had been on file for the last 10,000 years at the regional office on Alpha Centauri?

If they'd have given notice of what they needed to do and offered in response to keep the work between 9pm and 7pm as opposed to springing this on us, albeit with a nod to heavy use during late summer daylight hours, it would have been a much more positive conversation. I know second avenue doesn't have a right hand side sidewalk right after the chute area, but it's been a while since I've been on that road (except between downtown and the 10th street bridge). Is there a semi-reasonable way to get to Hot Metal for those for whom second avenue would be inappropriate?

So uh, maybe they can move their illicitly placed cable out of the Maurice St underpass so the plan detailed on the Rock Alley site can proceed? Since THEY WILL BE RIGHT THERE?

So they did have a big hole dug just past the hot metal bridge when I went through at 5:30am. I was able to get from the trailhead on the greenfield side to the hot metal pedestrian bridge. I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of slick plates down when it is open. Who do we contact to get grippy surface on the plates if there is a lack of?

I remember ( http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods-city/2010/08/21/Eliza-Furnace-Trail-users-face-yearlong-detour-for-bridge-work/stories/201008210124 ) in a previous administration when the Jail Trail was closed for months in that vicinity, there was a well-marked safe detour provided. People may have questioned the choices, but it was obvious they knew the trail was important and that "closing" it for months without providing an alternative was unacceptable. Surely Team-Peduto can do better than the previous JV team.

it'll be inconvenient, but if stuck, I'll go on the Southside trail. Alternate routes are inconvenient for automobiles and I guess they are for bicycles. Maybe we should be glad there are complaints. It means people are using the trails.

You could argue that this detour is better than the last one because it's only closed at night, not full-time. I suspect it's costing Duquesne Light plenty extra to do all the work overnight. And building a safe detour route seems like it would be harder for this closure than for the bridge replacement closure.

I'm not enthused about the closing, but I agree they were doing a decent job of being accommodating. I can detour in a bunch of ways (bates to/from oakland, southside trail to/from downtown). The thing I was most upset about this is the lack of communication in advance of the closure. Though, this does say a lot about why the bill in consideration by city council about advance notice of street closures should also include bicycle infrastructure, sidewalks, and trails.

Riverlife announce detour on north shore trail, with one day notice. What's up with the lack of advance communication? It's totally minor. Not a big deal. But there should really be a system for this. http://www.riverlifepgh.org/blog/north_shore_trail_advisory_for_august_27-29/

Friends of the Riverfront did eventually get around to updating their website and posting a closure notice on twitter and facebook...on Wednesday morning: https://twitter.com/FriendsRvrFront/status/636540954942525441 https://www.facebook.com/fotr.pgh/photos/a.300309354024.145948.63335184024/10153563541464025/ note that the link they posted on twitter is incorrect, though the facebook post has the right one: http://friendsoftheriverfront.org/trails/trail-alerts/

There are multiple sections of plates down where there is a posted "trail narrows" and there is a thin strip of trail where there are no plates. Be aware if the conditions are wet and aren't comfortable hopping up onto the plates.

Dumb thought this weekend: Looks like it's closed between that low ramp to second avenue and by brady street? why not a temporary bike lane alone the right lane of second (which shortly becomes one lane inbound anyway albeit with extra spae in the center) and then back up the ramp under birmingham bridge... and then just do the work 24/7 until done?

...butbutbut carrrrrrs might have to slow dowwwwn for 20 seconds. Gawd, can't have that now, can we? Seriously, though, I'm not sure it would work, as the Penn Ave lane seems very narrow with two-way traffic on it, and that's without cement trucks speeding by at 40 mph.

Those newly installed manholes near the wooden ramp are odd. I wonder how they will affect the winter commute?

To me it seems like too much of an imposition to ask them to both create a bike lane/trail detour on Second, and also only work on the trail at night. So if we can't reasonably ask them to do both, the option they've picked keeps the trail mostly usable for non-cyclists. Joggers and people pushing strollers aren't likely to feel safe walking in an unprotected bike lane along Second. Perhaps they could have put Jersey barriers all down Second and carve out a reasonably wide multi-use trail, but there might not be room for, say, an 8 foot trail and 2 feet of Jersey barrier.

I feel bad for an unsuspecting cyclist who gets on the trail from the downtown end and then hits the construction. Would it be too much to ask for signs at that end, too? Now they have huge pipes down next to the trail to go in. And for real, those manhole covers??? Slippery when wet, and someone is gonna get hurt on them. Why couldn't have all of this been done in the ground in the grass next to the trail?

The thing I don't like is new asphalt -- if this is a final one then it's not acceptable.

So...this is still closed in the evenings? The signs were still up when I biked home on Friday.

This past week on my M-F commute, they were working until at least 5:30am every morning.