BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Does anyone know what they're doing up at the Sharpsburg end of the uh ... passage ?

i'm glad this is finally happening. it's funny tho, because that section was never an "official trail" but due to the widening of rt 28 it's getting done. the trail wouldn't need to be moved if the highway didn't need to widen. but whatever gets it done is great in my book.

Any word on the trail extending to the 62nd street bridge and beyond?

as far as i know, it's looking good. still in the early stages of talks/development, etc, but most parties seem to want it to happen

This rules! Millvale is so close to where I live, and even though I am quite adventurous I usually get discouraged from going there because of the current crap-o situation.

I've always wanted to check out that cute diner.. it's on a corner, not sure of the street. I'd also like to gaze at the murals near Attic Records more.

Gotta love an article that includes the phrase the notorious Route 28 "death stretch".

yeah, you still need to get from the 40th street bridge to the trail. they are supposed to make a sidewalk to the bridge from milvale, but i imagine if this goes over budget, that's the first thing to go

that is if you need to cross the 40th st bridge to get there. if you're on the trail already, then you're cool

This is really great! One more reason to look forward to Spring.

yeah, you still need to get from the 40th street bridge to the trail. they are supposed to make a sidewalk to the bridge from milvale, but i imagine if this goes over budget, that's the first thing to go

This will be a swichback ramp similar to the mon wharf trail, right? What's the price on that one? Aren't the funds from different sources, i.e., Route 28 is all federal and state transportation funds, while the trail is DCNR funds?

The new trail connection to Millvale will use FHWA funds - as it is a component of the larger Route 28 project. Many trails have used both DCNR recreational trails funds as well as FHWA Transportation Enhancement funds. I'd have to look at our records to see if the North Shore Trail included the use of TE funds. Projects like the Hot Metal Bridge certainly did. As for design of the connection from the 40th Street Bridge, I don't know the answer, personally.

There is actually a path that goes from the end of the 40th ST bridge sidewalk connecting to the OnRamp sidewalk. I went up that way a few weeks ago from the trail in Millvale to the 40th Street Bridge. The OnRamp's sidewalk just ends abrubtly but people have made a path through the weeds up the rest of the way to the Bridge. Its only a few hundred feet of sidewalk that's missing.

I've been on the "path" through the weeds. Hardly a path.

At best it's inconvenient, at worst it's dehumanizing.

North to south, all they really need is a curb cut on Maryland Ave and a nice ramp from the Maryland Avenue sidewalk to the Rt 28 sidewalk.

South to north, that "path" is impassable half the year due to the weed growth, and then dumps you out onto a cement grade that rolls you into the traffic lanes. Absolutely horrific IMHO. Better just to get on the main road and take the lane. Or cross 28 and use the 28 sidewalk to Maryland.

For me, the biggest problem with that is the intersection of Grant/Maryland/ramps. In my experience it's almost always safer to take the stop sign at full speed (when possible) than to obey traffic laws. That should be a roundabout.

I go through this at least twice a week.

Couldn't say it better.

yeah, the new plan for 28 does seem better. it's supposed to keep people on 28, and go under the bridge, and only if you want to get off of 28 to go on the bridge or into milvale will you be in an intersection.

Back in June I took the weedy "goat path" from the end of the bridge to the start of the trail, and then rode up parallel to the train tracks all the way to Sharpsburg. At some point, the trail qua trail must have ended, and it just became a railroad maintenance path, but I don't remember it being very well marked, though it did seem to get really rough. At one point, a railroad maintenance truck passed me, but didn't give me any trouble. Have people been hassled while on that stretch?

Yeah, that stretch isn't signed. I've been passed by maintenance trucks as well without incident, but others (Eric, right?) have been hassled along there. I've never been the only person on that stretch when I've ridden it--I've seen other bikes, and lots of folks walking.

Are there any sketches of what it's going to look like? The latest article out today says it'll be wide enough to accommodate emergency vehicles, so this is going to be a pretty major bridge. Also, with it being across from Washington's Landing, I imagine it'll be a pretty nice looking structure.

Have people been hassled while on that stretch?

Not I, but I was passed by a freight train and it gave me nightmares for days.

The plans

http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/new_pages/heritage_status.htm#route28

The second link is probably better. There's just a map, but then on another page there is a cross section of what the trail itself will look like.

62SB to Millvale, you better know where you're going or you'll end up on the wrong side of the tracks. I don't mean that in a flip way, more that it's deadly dangerous. You get to a point and there just isn't anyplace to go. I ended up dragging my bike underneath a parked train to get out of there.

Millvale to 62SB, the one time I tried this, I didn't get any guff from train people, but did get a flat. (Thank you, nice PAT driver of a 1D without a rack, for giving me a ride with the bike inside the bus.)

So, yeah, I'm really happy this is getting some attention.