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Dirty Dozen /Small Business Saturday Ride

Hi folks, Walk/Ride Northside, the Northside's bike/ped committee, will be hosting a Dirty Dozen viewing ride in conjunction with Small Business Saturday. This casual, all-ages ride will hit viewing spots for two Dirty Dozen hills (Rialto & Suffolk), three Northside business districts, and end at Bier's Pub for, well, beers. This ride will total about 6 miles and tour three Northside bike lane projects.  We'd love for you to join! When: Saturday, November 25th - 10:30am Where: Meet at Foreland St Parking Lot (519 Foreland Street)
nmr
2017-11-20 12:57:57
What time does the Dirty Dozen pass Center Ave. in Aspinwall?
zzwergel
2017-11-20 16:24:25
http://www.dannychew.com/ddinfo.html   First wave leaves the cycling track at 9 am and thus probably gets to Center Avenue in Aspinwall at about 9:10 am, so I assume the riders will be there for about an hour in waves.
edronline
2017-11-20 18:46:45
@Ed, Thank you, I hope I can get out and watch
zzwergel
2017-11-23 10:29:28
Why is the junction of Banksville Rd. Chappel Ave. and Coast Ave. only have a stop sign on Chappel Ave? Shouldn't there be a traffic light here or a stop sign on Coast Ave. as well? If there are speeding cars on Banksville Rd. and someone comes flying down Coast Ave. without stopping and a crash results, who's to blame?
zzwergel
2017-11-27 17:57:09
It does look like the stop signs are missing, to judge from StreetView. In practice, this “just works” — no way to explain it, other than you can see you’re coming to a crossroads and instinctively stop. On Coast, there’s that S-curve, too, so it’s not like you’re going to go flying out into the middle of Banksville. Yeah, probably ought to 311 that, if it’s still in that condition. I’d go out and check first, though.
stuinmccandless
2017-11-28 09:21:03
I'll take the T out to Fallowfield tomorrow, Lock up my bike, and walk down there to take a look. I actually think there should be a traffic light at this intersection. It must be pretty tough turning left onto Banksville Rd. or going Straight onto Chappel Ave. By the way, how steep is Coast Ave. Do you think I can bike up that hill? Again, I'm trying to avoid a bus that only comes by once every hour.
zzwergel
2017-11-28 20:10:58
If you can climb Center in Aspinwall, Coast shouldn’t be an issue. Give Canton itself a try while you’re out there. It’s steep but short.
stuinmccandless
2017-12-02 22:15:11
Center Ave. is 1 block from where I live. Today, I walked up Coast Ave. from Banksville Rd. to Rutherford Ave. in my pursuit of confirming the missing stop sign. After I called 311 about it and suggesting a traffic light be installed, I climbed Coast Ave. on foot and that was very difficult. By the time I got to the tram stop at the top of the Rutherford Ave. steps, I was huffing and puffing as you can see in a video I will post later.
zzwergel
2017-12-04 16:31:24
Here is the video. Someone said that girls from Pittsburgh have the best legs because of the steps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxQlb0LgYnM&t=2s   Bonus points to whoever knows why I stayed to the left on Coast Ave?
zzwergel
2017-12-04 19:17:17
"Someone said that girls from Pittsburgh have the best legs because of the steps." Boys (?) too!
helen-s
2017-12-05 17:50:49
@Helen, I wonder if there is any scientific evidence to back this up?
zzwergel
2017-12-05 19:56:34
The quote is from World War II era. Trolleys and steps were how people got around. I’m sure the guys had great legs, too, but nearly all women wore skirts or dresses nearly all the time in those years. During the war, overseas, the legs on a Pittsburgh lass would be immediately recognizable as having climbed millions more steps.
stuinmccandless
2017-12-06 18:04:55
I think it would be nice if Pittsburgh left the tram lines intact and adapted it for use with the newer LRVs like they did in Beechview. Also, Provide high platform stations roughly every mile so wheelchairs and bikes can loaded and unloaded from the LRV. If PAT was able to acquire some old rail right of ways like the abandoned rails on Railroad St, as well as the rail on the south bank of the Allegheny River to the Brilliant Bridge and the bridge itself, they could be electrified and widened to accommodate the LRVs.
zzwergel
2017-12-06 18:52:31
@zz - Those tracks in the strip are not 100% abandoned. I've seen the occasional train on those tracks in the Strip.  These lines also server McConway and Toreley in Lawrenceville which makes parts for rail cars.  Infrequently used, yes, but not abandoned.  It's kind of weird watching a single train engine rolling down through the strip without a load after dropping off it's cargo. This is probably why AVR is not playing so nice with the idea of the Allegheny Green Boulevard which would run trails adjacent to those tracks and implement daytime commuter rail with nighttime freight service.
benzo
2017-12-07 11:29:11
@Benzo, Are you talking about the track that is like five feet north of Railroad St? It looks abandoned to me.
zzwergel
2017-12-07 15:11:50
That’s active.
stuinmccandless
2017-12-07 19:21:26
The other issue is that railroads don't have to do much to keep their rails active, even ones that are possibly never used.  It is a business calculation on their part. Ie the brilliant bridge to Aspinwall.  It used to serve the scrap yard. Now it serves nothing, but the rail owner is still holding onto it until it becomes clear what's going to happen at R47, just in case.
edronline
2017-12-08 08:35:28
@ZZ - yep, that track a few feet from the road. (Not north, actually southeast-ish of railroad street, between railroad and spruce way or smallman). It looks abandoned, but definitely still active. Some buisnesses on railroad street sometimes have rail cars butted up against them. See August 2015 google street view: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4588428,-79.9763853,3a,75y,277.57h,90.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s61_DOpKT0fT7VT0hNB2WTg!2e0!5s20150801T000000!7i13312!8i6656 also https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4534857,-79.9841439,3a,75y,274.48h,78.6t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxx2JGSwuJDwq316e3C6wdg!2e0!5s20150801T000000!7i13312!8i6656  
benzo
2017-12-08 10:05:39
Is R47 going to be like Almono by any chance and take forever?
zzwergel
2017-12-08 16:28:07
The other issue is that railroads don’t have to do much to keep their rails active, even ones that are possibly never used.
IIRC, RR company allowed to retire RR track only if there was no use at all during five years. Any use -- by owner or any other company.  
mikhail
2017-12-08 18:15:24
Yes. R47 will take forever and isn't a sure thing.  The borough council just turned over in Aspinwall as the November council election was basically a referendum on R47 with the no R47 side holding a majority of council seats come 2018. R47 needs 2 entrances/exits per state law for emergency medical/public safety reasons. They have one already in 19th Street in Sharpsburg. The second was supposed to be either Eastern or Brilliant in Aspinwall but those are now off the table. The R47 people are hoping that they can get a second entrance as a tie in to the highland Park bridge, but penndot has made it very clear that during the upcoming (if ever funded) route 28 widening at the hpb, which may begin in 2019, ramps to/from the bridge to R47 won't be happening. So it is a waiting game. Either Aspinwall flips and says ok to Eastern or Brilliant. Or penndot flips and has egress to the hpb. Or they find a third way.
edronline
2017-12-08 18:31:22
@edronline, Is there any news yet on when the trail will be complete to at least Etna so I do noit have to climb a big hill or cross the river twice in order to legally and easily get to it? It ends near Poplar St. in Etna, but dead ends into railroad ballast and a fence.
zzwergel
2017-12-08 18:44:40
Whenever the Etna park is done. However, it hasn't even been started yet.
edronline
2017-12-08 21:30:35