Today, I received a letter (on City of Pittsburgh letterhead) informing of a public meeting regarding infrastructure improvements to 40th Street in Lawrenceville. I thought I'd share here for those of you that may be interested. Here is the body of the letter:
To: 200-600 40th St. Residents
From: Kristin Saunders, Department of City Planning
Date: July 23, 2015
Re: 40th St. Roadway Infrastructure Improvements
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
Dear Resident:
This is to notify you that a public meeting regarding the proposed street infrastructure improvements extending from the 200 block to the 600 block of 40th St. will be held August 6, 2015, 6:30 pm at Arsenal Middle School (220 40th St.).
The City of Pittsburgh will be making roadway improvements on 40th St. between Butler St. and Liberty Ave. The improvements come in two segments:
1) From Butler St. to Penn Ave.: An uphill protected bike lane and downhill shared bike lane markings ("sharrows")
2) From Penn Ave. to Liberty Ave.: Sharrows in both directions
The following illustrates the roadway changes that will result from this project:
[IMAGE]
The addition of an uphill protected bike lane from Butler St. to Penn Ave. will enhance traffic flow by separating slower-moving bicyclists from faster-moving automobile traffic. On the downhill side, the addition of sharrows will help alert drivers to the presence of bicycles and ill promote a more positive experience for all road users. From Penn Ave. to Liberty Ave., painted sharrows in both directions will have a similar impact.
The 40th St. Corridor through Lawrenceville and Bloomfield is a major route into and out of the area for both residents and commuters. Improving traffic flow in this area for all road users will improve its safety and accessibility. Overall, this project will serve as a key connector in our city's growing bicycle infrastructure system and will contribute to making our roads safer for everyone.
Questions?
Please contact Kristin Saunders, Bicycle-andPedestrian Coordinator, City of Pittsburgh
E-mail: kristin.saunders@pittsburghpa.gov
Phone: 412-393-0150
njpearce22
2015-07-27 20:11:13
This sounds just right (to me) but...
1) If you're coming from town you would normally go up 39th: it's wide and has very little traffic. And at the top you don't wait much to get onto Penn.
2) From the east, you'd already be using Main, 44th, etc. all very reasonable bike streets.
3) Both of the above work for coming down.
Which leaves people coming off the 40th St Br.
If you're headed locally you don't really need to go up 40th (you'll turn on Butler). Yes, your house might be on 40th. But you can deal.
Only if you're you're headed east you might want to climb it. But you have all these other options... if only you could turn left at Butler.
So maybe the issue should be to have a bike-specific solution for left turns at 40th/Butler (signal timing, green lanes, whatever those people with the CivE degrees say). My only additional suggestion might be to have a stop sign / traffic light at 39th to calm west-bound traffic flowing into the below-39th business section.
[bonus opinionating:
I had to, um, run an errand into Millvale this morning. The lane lights had two lanes open in my direction, so I simply took the right lane out, with no evidence of driver annoyance (it was after rush hour, of course). I can't think of any rational way to persistently use lane lights to the benefit of bikers, but maybe you can.
]
ahlir
2015-07-27 21:44:01
.1) If you’re coming from town you would normally go up 39th: it’s wide and has very little traffic. And you don’t wait much to get onto Penn.
you might, but the survey Lawrenceville's Bike & Pedestrian Committee took last year indicated
others want to use 40th.
the most popular route for riding uphill is 44th St., with Main St. being the second most popular. Interestingly, about one third of respondents indicated that they would choose a different route if traffic/road conditions weren’t an issue, and of those people, Main and 40th were identified as the most desirable routes.
epanastrophe
2015-07-27 22:02:00
Ah, good point.
But the survey (to which I contributed) does say that 40th would at best be the 3rd choice, even under ideal conditions.
If you then look at their graphic, 40th and 39th have the same color. I would would take that to mean that people are statistically indifferent between 40th/39th. So why push 40th over 39th? I've done both. And 39th is way pleasanter. Maybe bikers just need to get a few (cheap) mods. A stop-sign at Penn/39th. (Along with sharrowing.)
ahlir
2015-07-27 22:12:11
First blush, I'm OK with this. 40SB is my main approach to the city if I'm not coming down Perrysville, so I am usually headed to Oakland. I think I climb 40th 20x as often as either 39th or 44th, and I can't recall ever climbing Main in eight years of biking. Plan B is Allegheny Cemetery if I'm headed way east.
I don't have any trouble making a left onto outbound Butler. Southbound 40th splits from two lanes into three at the corner (the new third lane is the curb lane for making right turns easier), so really it's only a left lane change then get in line. The pavement sucks but that's not a design issue.
stuinmccandless
2015-07-28 06:34:03
My take is that 40th, while not the most currently used route now, might be used more frequently if there are facilities to make climbing the hill feel safer.
Having a dedicated climbing lane for cyclists could make it easier to climb here and connect to the top of the hill at liberty or Penn Ave.
It would be the only dedicated bike lane up hill besides liberty ave lanes, which are only convenient if coming from the strip district, and still hard to connect to since the bike lanes don't extend down to a side street that connects with smallman easily.
Can we extend liberty ave bike lanes to 31st st please :)
benzo
2015-07-28 08:05:11
This bike lane makes sense to me. 40th St. is a main throughway, and having bike infrastructure on it will definitely make it more appealing to those looking to go uphill without worrying about holding up traffic when climbing.
Additionally, this climbing lane would give good access to Arsenal Park ("bike lanes next to parks?!?!? Who comes up with this crap?!?!?) and would not eliminate legal on-street paid parking spots. Also, I like that they are planning on making it a protected lane, but this is mostly so we don't have a repeat of the 6th St bike lane downtown, where drivers would completely ignore the numerous "No parking" signs posted there, which essentially forced the installation of bollards in the area.
A couple of thoughts
- What's the plan in the school area at the bottom of 40th, on the uphill lane? I imagine this area will just be sharrowed
- There's a bus stop about 2/3 of the way up. Will it be relocated, removed, or accommodated by the bike lane?
chrishent
2015-07-28 08:46:06
SB 40th is in fact currently signed for parking, but it's either non-paid or neighborhood (A-zone) permit only and as far as I'm aware rarely used. Unlike 6th, my understanding is the bollards have been in the plan from the beginning.
The school does have buses that load and unload on 40th, so there will be no bollards in that section. My hope is that it will be striped like the sections of Penn at the loading docks near 11th and at Heinz Hall, but I don't know if that's set yet. I haven't seen any plans, just verbal descriptions; I'm also not sure what's the plan for the top of the hill at the intersection with Penn--will the lane just fade back into the right/through travel lane, or what?
I'm not sure there's a particular plan for the bus stops at Davison & Government Way. The 93 to Oakland and 64 to Homestead do both use them, and they do get pickups there, so they're unlikely to go away; given the need to relocate utilities to do so, I doubt we'll get bus bulbs, so they'll probably just have to walk across the bike lane. (Will try to remember to ask about accommodation for disabled passengers, though.)
epanastrophe
2015-07-28 09:09:38
@Ahlir, the map indicates which routes people told us they use currently--the streets being the same color means already as many people use 40th as 39th; additionally, even more people have said they would use 40th if they felt safe doing so.
Recall in particular that 39th has parking on both sides, so any rider has to either subject themselves to the door zone or ride far enough out in the middle of the street as to be safe from doors, which for some is farther out than they are comfortable with when going uphill. (Me, I largely use 46th; the fact that it's a dead end means it's got pretty low traffic and I rarely have anyone behind me.)
epanastrophe
2015-07-28 09:17:03
– There’s a bus stop about 2/3 of the way up. Will it be relocated, removed, or accommodated by the bike lane?
That's a very good point. Since I live on Arsenal Place (which dead ends to a ~10 ft walled drop-off at 40th St.), the uphill lane on 40th doesn't directly impact my bike commuting since I have to use Fisk St. to access my house. However, I do use that bus stop almost daily to grab the 93 to Oakland for work in the morning. A protected lane will be quite welcome, even just for the benefits of calming the uphill traffic. Standing at that bus stop over the last few years, I've come to notice frequent illegal parking on the sidewalk, cars speeding excessively, and cars riding practically side-by-side, all on the uphill side. These aren't issues on the downhill side. The legally parked cars that narrow the downhill travel lane really help regulate the flow of traffic to Butler St.
Hopefully, the bus stop and protected lane could coexist. I know I would feel more relaxed waiting for the bus if I were physically separated from the speeding cars that ride inches from the curb uphill. Worst-case, I'd have to walk up the hill to Main/Penn to grab the bus (or it would force me to bike commute more frequently - ;) which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing).
njpearce22
2015-07-28 09:29:54
I actually would like to see lanes going up 40th. It will make the street safer for everyone. 39th is quite wide and has very little traffic; that's what makes it a good biking street. (I take it or 44th, depending on where I'm headed.)
But, really, we're having the wrong argument: This should not be an "or", it should be an "and". Can't all the streets under discussion get at least some bike mods? Lanes are fine for 40th but let's have the rest at least be sharrowed.
ahlir
2015-07-28 09:34:23
This might also help to bring the attention of the drivers to the mid-street crosswalks in which they are supposed to yield to pedestrians, but rarely do, specifically the one at Davison Street.
jason-pgh
2015-07-28 10:05:52
I really hate to "nanny" the general public, but I'm thinking there will need to be some STRONG, CLEAR signage to make it obvious to newbie or less informed bike riders NOT to use the uphill lane to go downhill. That will undoubtedly happen.
edmonds59
2015-07-28 13:13:43
I've never seen anyone biking down Forbes from Schenley Drive toward CMU in the uphill-only bike lane. The sharrows on the downhill side seem to be a sufficient clue.
On the other hand, that stretch of Forbes downhill doesn't seem to ever back up too much, while 40th Street downhill can be full of cars at rush hour, with a five+ minute wait to get down the hill if you're in a car. I guess some cyclists might try to bypass that using the uphill bike lane, instead of using one of the adjacent streets with no such delays.
steven
2015-07-28 16:16:13
I saw someone riding a BSO the wrong way on forbes ave yesterday by atwood street heading towards downtown riding between the center lane and rightmost traffic lane (not sandwiched between parked cars and moving traffic, but between two lanes of oncoming traffic).
I don't think signs would have helped in any case. I'm not sure if this guy was stoned or stupid. It looked like he did it for a few blocks at least.
benzo
2015-07-29 09:19:54
Yeah, signs can only do so much. Just last week I saw two guys on BSOs heading east on the westbound lanes on Neville Rd on Neville Island. Never mind that this is a 4-lane road with ample shoulders. Some people simply don't care.
chrishent
2015-07-29 10:03:04
Of course someone I know was also in a car crash after they veered off the road to avoid a car that was going the wrong way down a divided highway.
benzo
2015-07-29 12:38:36
Some of the fine people discussing this topic on Lawrenceville's Nextdoor site are concerned about the bike lane impacting the travel of emergency vehicles:
The narrowing of the road, combined with the congestion that 40th has on a daily basis, it will be a problem for the emergency vehicles that rely on that thoroughfare. There will not be any place for cars to get out of the way.
There has to be a better plan.
You're right, [redacted]. I didn't think of that. All of the ambulances we get flying up the hill combined with the 2-6 pm downhill congestion- not good.
I'm not sure what the downhill congestion has to do with ambulances "flying up the hill." And, I've never seen 4 solid hours of continuous traffic backup going downhill. Maybe an 1.5 hrs (4-5:30pm), but not from 2-6pm as quoted.
They are even comparing this to the center-line rumble strips on Butler:
Thanks for the heads up I do plan on letting people know about this ridiculous idea. This is worst than than rumble stripes
njpearce22
2015-07-30 06:36:48
I think the emergency vehicle issue is a legit question. Has anyone solicited feedback from the public safety department or EMS in this regard? Maybe send Kristin Saunders a heads-up on this so she has a fact-based answer to this question, or better yet, have an EMS rep there to dismiss their worries.
marko82
2015-07-30 07:13:21
really not sure how many ambulances 'fly up' that hill anyway. i suppose it would be the shortest route from 28 to Presby maybe? but also not sure what downhill congestion has to do with ambulances trying to get uphill anyway.
(there is, of course, a fire station at penn and 40th. gee, i wonder what they do when the hill's backed up currently?)
[also, if as many drivers actually moved over for fire & medic trucks as post about being worried that others won't be able to move over ....]
epanastrophe
2015-07-30 08:36:27
I wholeheartedly agree bb, but I think it's best if fire/EMS would be at the table to discuss any potential issues, and assure those in attendance that the sky isn't falling.
And just in case, someone should also call that Catholic Priest down in the strip so he can complain how this lane on 40th street effects his church [/sarcasm]
marko82
2015-07-30 11:27:22
I don't know, but I'll ask.
epanastrophe
2015-07-30 13:38:43
Her response: "I am working with the fire station at Penn / [40th].
"The reason we want to use 40th is because I want to encourage cyclists to use the street that has a light (39th doesn't)."
epanastrophe
2015-07-30 14:12:21
Yeah, I don't like to make a left turn without a signal or stop sign during rush hour.
If I go uphill I have to turn left from butler on to 39th with no signal or stop sign, then a left on to penn with no signal or stop sign and another right on to 39th, and then another left on to liberty with no signal or stop sign to take the direct way to the top of the hill.
Though, there are some variations that could be made, I find that way not appealing much at all. At least 40th takes your right up to liberty and in to bloomfield.
benzo
2015-07-30 16:13:47
I don't buy the emergency vehicle argument at all. Cars are already allowed to park where the bike lane would be, so the available roadway will be the same.
willb
2015-08-03 15:36:25
You could make open bollard sections that cars could pull into, simulating the empty parking spaces. Problem solved
sgtjonson
2015-08-03 17:07:13
Does anyone have the image that they can post?
hmerenstein
2015-08-05 21:19:08
yeah, she is in discussion with the station (who are cool). also, last i heard, they plan on spacing the bollards fairly far apart so that people can pull into it to allow for emergency vehicles to pass.
erok
2015-08-06 09:59:30
Where is the best entrance of the school for this meeting?
mjacobpgh
2015-08-06 15:50:38
The Middle School entrance is on 40th St., a couple hundred feet above Butler. AFAICT, there's only the one entrance on 40th (as opposed to the Elementary School side on 39th, which seems to have several...).
There's no bike racks as far as i know, but the entire building is surrounded by iron fence, so there should be plenty to lock to.
epanastrophe
2015-08-06 16:15:36
I got a letter in the mail yesterday saying that the 40th Street project is a go and will be installed September 2015.
I don't have the letter in front of me, but the big takeaways are:
- A dedicated bike lane on the uphill side from Butler Street to Penn Ave. The vehicle lane will be narrowed. The plastic bollards will only be installed at the Davison intersection as a pedestrian safety measure. As originally planned, there were bollards the entire length to Penn Ave.
- Sharrows in both directions between Penn and Liberty.
- Sharrows on the downhill portion of 40th Street between Penn and Butler.
- The installation plastic bollards and bump-outs at the Davison Street intersection to raise pedestrian visibility to drivers.
- An allowance for permit parking in the dedicated bike lane on the uphill side during special events.
njpearce22
2015-08-27 05:59:11
I'll be itching to ride that shortly after it goes in.
Lawrenceville folks, what are a couple good things to check out to make the most of the trip?
byogman
2015-08-27 08:09:02
LV Bike/Ped Committee posted a copy of the letter here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3eOu9qUZ4BUcXlnZ2dEb3VpUVlHVkE3d3hPOGdMbDNadDhR
@byogman: There's a bowling alley on 44th & Butler, and a coffeehouse with an extensive pinball machine collection on Butler in the same building. There's a quite nice single-screen movie theatre (Rowhouse) at Butler & Main. There's one of those everybody-paint-together storefronts (Paint Monkey, I think) at Butler & Fisk, and another wine-themed one down near Doughboy Square.
Central Lawrenceville has a pretty substantial neighborhood park between 40th and 39th on the hillside between Penn and Butler (Arsenal) and another, smaller one on 46th above Butler (Leslie). Both cemeteries are quite nice to ride through--St Mary's (Catholic, off Penn behind Children's Hospital) and Allegheny (off Penn & Pearl, or off Butler near 48th).
There are several art galleries on and just off Butler, though I don't know any of them very well, and the Roberto Clemente Museum is in an old firehouse at Penn & Butler. There's also a glassblower with a storefront workshop on Butler near 42nd.
There are several bars and restaurants running the gamut from nice to divey, though I doubt any are remotely kosher. There's probably more, but that's all I can come up with for now....
epanastrophe
2015-08-27 09:50:04
Bits of history: The Allegheny Arsenal, for which the school and the park are named, was a major manufacturer of arms and ammo for the federal government for most of a century, roughly 1815-1915. (Don't rely on my dates; do your own research.)
The greatest civilian disaster during the Civil War took place at the Arsenal when a munitions plant exploded, killing about 80, most of them women. FWIW, that event took place the same day as the greatest loss of life in U.S. history, the Battle of Antietam. Sept 17, 1862.
More recently, Pittsburgh's Susie Tree, part of the global Susie Forest, is in the park, and doing well, the last time I checked. I was present at the planting and took video.
The take-away for your kids, Ben, as I see it, is if you conduct your life in such a manner that hundreds of people plant trees in your memory, you must have done something right. And that in itself is worth the trip across the city to see a young tree.
stuinmccandless
2015-08-27 12:53:29
next meeting of the LV Bike/Ped Committee is this Thursday evening at 6:30pm. We'll be in the conference room at 188 43rd St 15201 (which you may also recognize as BikePGH HQ).
Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1619237025010684/
epanastrophe
2015-08-31 21:22:33
Bike lanes were installed last night! This really needs bollards, many cars are parked on the sidwalk.
jason-pgh
2015-09-19 14:37:41
Ben, if it's not morbid- I think a great thing to show kids in LVille is riding up the hill through Allegheny Cemetery. (follow the white stripes in the center of the road - they have their own color belt thing going on). There's graves from different eras. There's a "jaws" market. Lots of civil war and other military dead.
vannever
2015-09-19 16:09:42
Bike lane issues. As of right now, the bikes lanes on 40th street are completely useless. Numerous cars are parked, not stopped, parked on the sidewalk. Until there are no parking signs placed, this bike lane is not viable.
https://twitter.com/FerranteJason/status/645704542554750976
jason-pgh
2015-09-20 18:44:29
This was literally done yesterday. As of 2 pm Saturday, they hadn't even marked it as a bike lane, so it might've been reasonable to guess it was a parking lane.
they're not done yet. Give it time. some changes may literally happen overnight, but most don't.
On the other hand, if people are parked on, not just along, the sidewalk, that's a violation of state and city law regardless of signage--feel free to call 911 and ask for enforcement.
epanastrophe
2015-09-20 18:51:44
I guess I was just expecting the city to be able to work on this quickly. High expectations I guess. However, I would imagine that drivers would see the solid marked white line and not cross it to park. And in a way to avoid that line, the cars were parked on the sidewalk.
jason-pgh
2015-09-20 19:03:33
Cars were parked half on the sidewalk on that section of 40th Street last weekend too. Some on both sides.
It's possible that drivers who don't pay much attention to the law against parking on the sidewalk also don't pay much attention to newly painted white lines.
steven
2015-09-20 23:36:10
Sidewalk parking on that uphill side of 40th has been a constant issue that I've noticed. Head two blocks east, and you get the same thing on Main Street. It's especially bad near the top of the hill where Main and Penn meet. Sometimes, you'll get 2 ft. of space between the rowhouses/buildings/stoops and illegally parked cars.
On a different note... I only noticed two vehicles drive in the [unfinished] bike lane on 40th while I stood at the bus stop this morning. Traffic was noticeably slower, and it was nice to have the buffer zone while standing on the sidewalk.
njpearce22
2015-09-21 08:42:19
Yeah, usually it can take a couple days to a week to make all of the changes needed. Bayard street lanes were marked up for bike boxes (rough borders of boxes drawn in with spray paint), and DPW was changing up parking signage this morning on my commute it. It will get there.
benzo
2015-09-21 08:59:20
Rode it this morning. Other than the crappy pavement, no issues.
It's definitely still not done: there are ghosts of soon-to-be bike lane symbols, and of a sharrow in the merged lane at the top, but they aren't permanent yet. The paint-and-bollard corner extensions planned for the corner at Davison (similar to the ones at Highland & Bryant) aren't even sketched in yet.
epanastrophe
2015-09-23 12:16:21
What would be the appropriate outlet to report illegal parking on 40th Street? There was a large white pickup truck parked both in the bike lane and on the sidewalk this morning. I don't have a license plate on the truck, but I know who owns it based on their business name and phone number advertised on the side of the truck. This individual chose to park illegally on the uphill sidewalk of 40th Street quite frequently before the bike lane was installed. This is the first time that I've noticed it happen sine the lanes were finished.
njpearce22
2015-09-30 06:53:37
Every time I've attempted to report illegal parking to anyone else in this city, I've been told to call 911.
epanastrophe
2015-09-30 06:54:56
I've found that tweeting photos of things is an excellent way to document things for later reference. Get the plate # in the pic if you can.
stuinmccandless
2015-09-30 07:48:23
