BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Those stats are weird. So there are 374 crashes on carson st north, but less than 108 going south? Also... Saw mill run blvd and Clairton blvd are the same road.

Saw this article, maddening. Penndot has all this data and knows the facts, and yet their "improvements" consist of nothing better than spitting into the ocean. It's the equivalent of having a car on which you know the brakes are failing, so your response is to make sure all the light bulbs are working. Fuck Penndot.

Traffic enforcement is such a joke in the city. Use what tools we have at our disposal now (speed traps, DUI checkpoints) to make some sort of immediate impact while the good folks at PennDOT craft another "solution".

City cops view traffic duty as beneath them, it's the lowest possible assignment* (*bro in law. Ugh.). They're more concerned about getting easy overtime security duties. This would be an excellent time to press for change during this current shake-up.

It's useful to note direction of travel: it tells you something about which side of the road has the problems to fix. Also, more drunks travel north on E. Carson than travel south.

Maybe some of the accidents are attributable to drunks trying to go north on an east/west road. :/

Also, my *favorite* stretch of West Carson (between the Ft Pitt and West End bridges) is #3. Not surprising considering the joke of a 35 mph speed limit, the narrow roadway, lack of center divider, and confusing West End Circle. I've seen so many near misses heading south (er - east?) as cars jockey to get around the buses that it surprises me that the northbound stretch is more dangerous.

Ok, I had to double check - 837 South (Carson st.) would be traveling upriver. So the more dangerous North direction would be coming from Homestead headed *toward* all the bars. Maybe they are afraid that they are going to miss happy hour?

Yeah, looks like up-river E. Carson goes south. It just confirms local folk wisdom: Pittsburghers have no sense of direction... But the first point still stands: there's something wrong with the road going down-river. Examining a map with actual accident locations noted would be interesting.

salty wrote:With bike content and a quote by Scott: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/3424421-74/avenue-penn-crashes How do you spend a million bucks on “traffic signals, signage and pavement markings” on a 2 mile stretch of Penn? Let’s see, I bet it’s by installing the same shitty synchronized/ped-unfriendly light system like on Penn in E. Lib that they keep touting and calling it a “safety improvement”. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it. Also nice of them to tabulate each direction separately in order to make it harder for a road to make the list. That makes so much sense.

I really hate that intersection at penn / penn circle / center. They have the right turn lane (from center ave) with a green light while they have the pedestrian signal lit to cross penn. When there are actually people trying to cross here, it's a dangerous situation, especially outside of rush hour when there are fewer, faster cars.

Ok, I just got back from a quick run to the strip for provisions (I refuse to be snowed in without some Parma sausage). My route takes me on the stretch of East Carson down by the steelers practice field & the FBI building. On the “North” side of the road right where the road turns there is a light pole smashed and laying on the side of the road with quite a few pieces of car spread around. This is one of those telephone pole sized poles only made of metal and it’s base is several feet off of the roadway beyond a substantial curb. This must have happened yesterday because I didn’t see it on Sunday when I went through.

I was thinking about this more and wondering, why split each road into a different category based on direction of travel? So in the example cited in the article, what side of the road would a head on collision count for? The side of the driver at fault? Or the side of impact? It's a weird division that only really seems suitable for divided highways. Does anyone know what the reasoning would be behind this?

i couldnt imagine the revenue this city could generate if it simply enforced the use of turn signals.

Today there was a crash on 885, uphill, on Lebanon Rd An SUV rear ended a car, both going uphill; not quite sure how it happened, but I'm going to guess either tailgating or inattention played a role

Video of above wreck on carson - 2 vehicles with jeep on roof, booster seat beside car; I hope the child is ok. http://www.wpxi.com/videos/news/two-car-crash-closes-carson-street/vC8dX/

5 of the top 16 are on Saw mill run blvd / Clairton blvd / aka 51. Please avoid biking on 51 as much as possible. Ugh it's so bad. I am also surprised 28 wasn't on the list.

I really hate that intersection at penn / penn circle / center. They have the right turn lane (from center ave) with a green light while they have the pedestrian signal lit to cross penn. When there are actually people trying to cross here, it’s a dangerous situation, especially outside of rush hour when there are fewer, faster cars.

Somebody is going to die here. Its a short right green and cars RIP onto Penn from center near Kellys.... There are people legally and illegally walking.