BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Wow,

I know that intersection really well. This is a real shame.

He just jumped out in front of her. He shoulda been on the sidewalk.

I hate that intersection, it should be a three-way stop.

then again, with the senior center and the PH Gardening club right there, and a school and TWO churches down the street, there should be sidewalks for people.

edited to add - the PH powers that be have decided that sidewalks are too expensive and have cut them from every project that needs to save money (i.e. every project), including the new highschool.

There are almost no sidewalks in PH. it is a 60's community

the saddest thing is that these two people (driver and ped) probably knew each other, given that the senior center is about a block away, they may have both been going to / coming from the same event there.

sidewalks may not prevent all accidents, but they could go a long way. I did the numbers at one point, and if every property paid $20 more in taxes a year, PH could put down a few miles of sidewalk every year. What property owner can't find $20 in a year?

But those sidewalks would go on the shoulders dback and I and others bike on. So then I started thinking about mixed use paths and the like. I don't know. I've got lots of ideas. I've found people to listen to them in PH, and I've found people to add to them (here and in PH).

But while we brainstorm and look for funding and label things "long term", things like this happen. It makes me want to scream. Why wasn't this done 30 years ago?

Because those two people voted against it.

Democracy: the theory that people should get the government of their choice, good and hard.

If Marshall Twp can do it, Penn Hills can do it. Check out this aerial view of Woodland Road, on the northern edge of Allegheny County. Note that there is a nice gravel (and occasionally paved) path on the one or the other side of the road, from Quail Court on the west end, to Brush Creek Road on the east end. It then winds along Brush Creek and Knob Roads to the SE for quite some distance.

What's needed are political will and a human sacrifice. We just obtained the latter. Let's use it to push for construction of a similar trail through some part of Penn Hills.

Stu - I'm on it. There's transportation meetings on the 4th thursdays of every month. I've been missing them for work, I do believe I'll take vacation to get to the next one if I have to.

The hard part is penn hills is well, very hilly. At least the part where I live. I have a hard time imagining side walks on most of the roads near me. From a cyclists point of view, I would worry that if they do put sidewalks in then the roads would be narrower or have less shoulder for me to travel on. Plus there would be a hard curb on my right instead of a soft shoulder, should I need to get off the road quickly.

Just putting this out there, but maybe the person driving is at fault here, she is in her late 70's. I know there are a lot of people out there who should not be driving who are because there is no checks and balances in the drivers license system.

Sure sidewalks may have helped, but she might have just jumped the curb and run him down anyway.

Jason - I hear you, those are the conflicting thoughts that I try and balance in my head every morning when I leave my house. That's why I'm going to start going to the transportation meetings, rather than just asking my contact at PH when/how we'll get something done (and how I can help). I think the "something" is still a huge question mark. That's also why I think it would be fantastic to connect up to Bike-pgh, because I *know* these same problems have been solved (or attempted to be solved) in other places, with varying degrees of success - we just need to learn about it, get smarter, and get going on it.

I guess we're sort of lucky for 30 years of stagnancy in transportation infrastructure... it leaves us with a blank slate where any progress will make a huge improvement.