So because of the 28 detour thing, the man has taken butler st and turned it into a 3 lane. 2 outbound, 1 inbound.
So if you are riding inbound between highland park and 62nd st, the road is about 12 feet wide with 0 shoulder. I didnt even realize it until a car passed me and was freaking out yelling how I was in the middle of the road.
Think 837 but worse.
thanks penn dot.
Yeah, that's going to be a disaster for a Long Time.
I'm wondering why, exactly, they made it two lanes outbound between the bridges. The bridge over Heths Run pinches to one lane. I see lots of fender benders there, considering people have a hard time dealing with the HP Bridge interchange and the traffic signal at One Wild Place as it is...
I wonder how many more major exits from the city will be made as inconvenient as possible. This mess, the McKees Rocks Bridge, the West End...
Perhaps it's a subtle strategy designed to cut back on local population decline. "To heck with Operation Redd Up Pittsburgh; let's activate Operation Pittsburgh Pitcher Plant!"
I think the 2 lanes are there to let more cars stack between lights to help prevent gridlock at intersections.
I doubt it will help, and I really hope I don't get hit by a car since I have to ride this area every day.
does anybody have any alternate bike routes posted on bikely?
Very few exist.
Up and over Baker st, which is a cliff and 2 left
turns.
Over HP bridge and back across 62nd, which is kind
kind of ridic to just eliminate a narrow road.
I seriously wonder how wide it is here. It is TIGHT
And Baker is narrow coming up from the 62nd Street Bridge, and cars FLY up there. I'm guessing Butler with two lanes is _just_ big enough for two cars, and the other lane can't be much better.
If you're coming from L-ville, you can finesse your way up 57th Street to Stanton Heights, then come down the zoo hill or into Morningside.
If you're heading out ARB and you have a stout bike, you can cruise the railroad access road from the 62nd Street Bridge. Too bad the Heth's Run development didn't happen, or there would be a trail from the river up to the zoo parking lot.
how possible is it to get from the downtown side of baker to 62nd street? that bridge is still the only fun way to get across the river. and that's my usual route to it.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09159/975901-147.stm
It reads as though excessive speeds through the corridor now are not a factor, because it's gridlocked by 4 pm. We are safe now?
It was bumper to bumper from 40th St Bridge to Highland Park Bridge when drove the other way at 3p.
I wouldn't ride on it during those times either. There's no passing on the inbound lane.
Okay, first annoyance--the helicopters whirling around my house. This has been going on since noon, and I reckon there are at least three in the air right now.
how possible is it to get from the downtown side of baker to 62nd street? that bridge is still the only fun way to get across the river. and that's my usual route to it.
It's not. There's not even a sidewalk along Butler Street. I'd head up Stanton and go down 57th. Or, get used to riding through Millvale.
So... my favorite short ride is up Middle Rd as far as I have time to go and then back down Saxonburg Blvd. My detour plan was to go out HP and back 62nd (reverse the detour). Mornings, usually, coming from Sq Hill. Thoughts?
It sucks for Morningside/L'ville people who have to deal with this crap daily. 
Wait ... out 62nd st back HP.
The detours will be in place until October. Unfortunately, in order to fix Route 28 (including the Millvale Connection on the bike trail), they need to get traffic off 28. There really is no other option than Butler. Yes, it sucks. But, it is temporary. And, the Millvale Trail connection will be a nice "reward" at the end of it all.
I was thinking when they repaint Butler back to two lanes at the end of all this they could include bike lanes.
sarah, i rode it yesterday and thought the same thing. totally doable.
I just got in touch with the City and PennDOT about getting a bike lane on there. Looks like this route is going to be hosed for a couple of years. Ugh. We need to make sure we approach the City again to follow up. Steve Patchan will bird dog it for us too.
Uh oh - what do you mean by "a couple of years"? That's a pretty useful road.
Means Rt 28 is going to be under construction and rerouting traffic for quite some time unfortunately.
Yeah, this is only stage one. I suspect at some point, the detour will be reversed and we'll see two lanes coming from the HP Bridge to the 62nd Street Bridge.
All of the future work scheduled for Rte. 28 is between Millvale and the Northside. The lane closures on that stretch is scheduled well after the work they're performing currently at Sharpsburg/Etna.
Unless they're attempting to have two northbound detours after 40th street, but they would have to include an additional 22 city blocks of 3-lane road on butler for the 3-lanes past 62nd street to be of any use?
Gee, seems to me this would be a good time to iron out an agreement with the railroad for a legal path between Millvale and the 62SB. There's space enough through most of that stretch to drive two snowplows abreast. Having that would really lessen the pain of getting into town from themthere parts.
Stu:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09068/954208-455.stm
Development plan underway, as of March 9th, to connect Millvale to Harrison. Development plans will provide a conceptual alignment and identify property owners. Beyond that it's upto the various municipalities and non-profits (trail councils) to develop the easements and access rights.
