BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The park on the river in Millvale I think is a public park, I don't know if there are any parking restrictions, check there, that would be an excellent setup.

Parking is available at the Millvale Riverfront Park , see the link below :

http://www.millvalepa.com/riverfront.aspx

The trail from the park to the 31st Bridge is under destruction right now due to the moving of the rail line in conjuction with the widening of 28, but it is still open, but very muddy.

I understand the new trail will run on a overhang above the river there, to be completed in the Spring

Im not sure where you live or how it may work out for you but look into the possibility of a rack n roll PAT bus line near your house. To avoid riding on the "highway" stretch between harmarville and blawnox in the dark hours of the morning and to avoid pedaling up one wild place I bike for a short distance to catch a bus, then bike about a mile or so to work and pedal the whole 10 miles home, it has really worked out for me.

This may seem a little nuts, but try parking up on Troy Hill somewhere. Just drive into Millvale and then up Maryland/Logan, and find somewhere up there to leave the car all day. Ride bike down the hill, cross 16thStBr and on into town. Every 6A Troy Hill bus has a rack to get you back up. Drive down Rialto, L onto 28, and off you go.

Millvale Riverfront Park is the solution for you. Parking is plentiful, it is right on the trail (for the most part) and the City of Millvale actually supports the concept of

park and pedal from here. It's muddy now, but that's not always true. Were you looking to start now?

PS - There is talk that Rialto is to be closed for the winter months. Don't count on it being available from Troy Hill until at least mid-March.

The Rialto closure is a foregone conclusion.

Couldn't you just lift your bike over a jersey barrier? If you do that and something happens, there are consequences for liability, but if nobody's looking, it seems like not that much of a barrier for a cyclist.

Yes. You could still RIDE Rialto, presumably. It's a pretty big hill, and with no maintenance on a closed road, stopping before the jersey barriers COULD be a problem. But, the reference to Rialto originally was as a departure route from Troy Hill by car, with Troy Hill being the all day parking location.

Sooo, drive down past the Penn Brewery, L onto 28, and off you go. I was just pointing out the non-intuitive yet close option of Troy Hill, since someone mentioned Rack & Roll routes, and all 6As have racks, whether the route is on the list or not.

Thanks for all the help. I think I will probably go the Millvale park option. That way I can hop back on 28 and be past the major traffic that occurs before the 31st St Bridge. I will likely start my commute on March once I get into a routine at the new job.

Do a practice run in the car getting to the Park before you start the commute by bike routine. It's not that it is hard to find the park, exactly, but if you are following written directions it can be sort of confusing with things like "almost do this" and "take the third left" (or similar). The part from Route 28 into the Park is the hardest part, only because you have to navigate this weird spagetti zone of on ramps, off ramps and through streets to get UNDER Route 28 and into the Park. After visiting the park more than a dozen times, I still find myself double checking every turn. It might be the craziest two minutes of driving in the 'Burgh. So, make sure you do it at least once before you start the commute routine. It's really disheartening to miss ONE turn and find yourself headed northbound on Route 28, when you were absolutely certain that you were just one turn from the Park.