BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The bike route and the sidewalk are one and the same. I walk the sidewalk inbound in the morning and outbound in the afternoon and am passed by plenty of cyclists. It's tight, but there's enough room.

The closed sign on the Ft. Pitt Bridge is leftover from when the park was closed. At that time, the sidewalk ended at a chain link fence right at the Ft. Pitt Museum. Rather than fencing the sidewalk off on the south shore of the river, they put up that warning sign. When they reopened the park (and the sidewalk) in May of 2008 they never removed the sign. You can easily get from station square to the north shore by crossing these two bridges without any detours.

I apologize - I think I was referring to a different sign than you were talking about. There was a sign attached to a telephone pole as you walked onto the Ft. Pitt Bridge that said something like "Walkway closed at Point State Park." That was the sign that was leftover from when the park was under renovation. I noticed this morning that sign is gone. I'm not sure how long ago it disappeared.

I think you may be asking about the giant "Ramp Closed" sign that is blocking much of the walkway as you transition from the ramp onto the bridge deck. This sign doesn't refer to the walkway at all. This is a road sign that they put on the bridge when the car ramp to West Carson Street is closed nightly for construction. During the day the ramp is open and they store the sign in a way that it nearly completely blocks the pedestrian/bike path.

I thought that was kinda of a big sign for saying that the trail ramp was closed !

I rode past this on Tuesday on my way to Dormont. Prior to this, I didn't realize it was even possible to get to the FtPittBr. Thanks for the heads up on the sign.

Those steps on the S end of the sidewalk take you down to W Carson. I didn't go farther. Is it possible to get FROM the SSide trail TO that sidewalk without having to get killed on WCarson?

I believe that the SS trail ends in the parking lot right before you wrap around on the sidewalk along West Carson to get to that bridge walkway... From what I remember, I think the walkway follows the exit ramp down to Carson and meets the sidewalk.

Be wary on that sidewalk, especially where it narrows at the steps to the Incline. If you're coming up from Station Square, you've got no warning and no room to dodge if someone comes off those stairs, so be prepared to stop on a moment's notice.

The South Side trail will lead you right up to the Incline Parking lot. From there, just follow the sidewalk around the bend and continue on up to the Fort Pitt Bridge. In addition to the stairs, be very careful around the bus shelter by the incline there, someone could pop out of it unexpectedly too. A lot to dodge there right there, but a very nice way to cross the river.

Even though a lot of the Point is closed both walkways are open so you can easily continue across to the Northside. Be aware, though, they are setting up for the pre-Stillers game concert next Thursday and it's possible unexepected fencing may crop up before then.

How about that! So it's possible to get from the South Side to the North Side without riding through downtown? I had no idea.

Better than that, you can ride from the South Hills to the North Hills without encountering a significant grade, provided you don't mind getting killed on PA51 or pulled over by the Port Authority police in the Wabash Tunnel.