City puts wheels in motion to help cyclists

By Kacie Axsom
For the Tribune-Review
Monday, August 6, 2007

Computer science professor Frank Pfenning rides his bicycle year-round from his Squirrel Hill home to the Carnegie Mellon University campus, weather permitting.

The 15-minute ride is mostly pleasant and relatively flat, he says, but some streets are dangerous.

“This part of Oakland is terrible,” Pfenning said. Especially on busy Forbes and Fifth avenues, cars cut off bicycles, he said. “It’s a mess. You have to weave your way through traffic.”

He thinks a bike lane would help.

That could be among ideas the city Planning Department considers at a meeting Tuesday about how to make Oakland more bicycle-friendly. The meeting will be 6:30 p.m. in Room 1105 AB at the University of Pittsburgh’s Scaife Conference Center, 3350 Terrace St.

Planners will discuss the findings of an independent study of Oakland, conducted by Cornell University researchers. The study concluded that Pittsburgh is ideal for a large bicycling population, in part because of its many colleges, but the city needs a comprehensive bike network to make cycling safe and convenient.

Forbes and Fifth avenues must be made more bicycle-friendly, especially between Halket and Bouquet streets, the study said. That part of Forbes has three traffic lanes and one parking lane. Eliminating the parking lane and adding a bike lane could help bicyclers, the study said, but more research is needed to determine where drivers could park.

The city has no money for bicycling projects, said Richard Meritzer, a senior city planner. But some improvements can be done as part of routine maintenance, such as sidewalk maintenance or shared lane markings, he said in an e-mail.

Joanna Doven, spokeswoman for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, said the city will hire a full-time bike and pedestrian coordinator early next year. That person would secure money, conduct studies and improve safety and infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists in the city.

Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh — a nonprofit working to make the city safer for cyclists — said recently painted shared traffic and bike lane markings have helped make conditions safer along Liberty Avenue through Bloomfield and Lawrenceville.

He rides through Oakland from his home in Friendship to Bike Pittsburgh’s offices in the South Side. He doesn’t know how many cyclists travel in or through Oakland, but said the number appears to be increasing.

“I find it intimidating, and I’m an everyday rider,” Bricker said. “The perception is, it’s not very safe or welcoming for cyclists.”

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