A ghost bike on Penn Ave in Point Breeze. PennDOT lists Penn Ave as the state’s 11th-most hazardous roadway.

Saturday, March 2, 2013 – Tom Fontaine

Glenice Price’s anger grew as she watched traffic pass by as she rode an exercise bike in her physical therapist’s office on Penn Avenue in Point Breeze.

Her son, James Price Jr., died in July when a motorist struck him while he rode his bicycle less than a block away on Penn. Jeffrey McClure Jr., 29, of Pitcairn pleaded guilty to hitting Price, 46, and will spend up to five years in prison.

“The way the traffic was flying by, it made me mad. The sign says 35 (mph), but people looked like they were going twice that,” said Price, 76, of Homewood. “I said to myself, ‘No wonder my son got killed.’ ”

Unless you solve the speeding and weaving problems, I don’t think the improvements will make a dent – BikePGH Executive Director, Scott Bricker

The section of Penn is part of a two-mile stretch of Route 8 that PennDOT considers Pennsylvania’s 11th-most hazardous roadway. An almost three-mile stretch of East Carson Street in the South Side is the state’s sixth-most hazardous corridor, state and federal records show.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said Kayla Blackey, 25, who works at Culture Shop on East Carson, home to dozens of bars and restaurants.

“We have heavy traffic here all day long, and people are always in a hurry or not paying attention,” Blackey said. “At night, just add more people and possibly more drinking.”

PennDOT annually ranks high-crash locations. Factors include the number of serious crashes, or ones involving injuries or fatalities; the number of people hurt and killed in the wrecks; and traffic volumes.

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