Aliens
2019-05-08 18:17:00
10
Phipps Conservatory bike lane - most bollards missing
In mid-March I emailed DOMI's Craig Toocheck about this and lodged a 311 complaint too. At that time I counted about 46 bollards missing in front of Phipps--the entire row (36 of them) from the Schenley bridge to the Phipps entrance crosswalk, and another 10 here and there between the Phipps entrance crosswalk and the crosswalk to the visitors center. More have gone missing since and cars and delivery trucks are repeatedly parking in the bike lanes (I bike it twice a day to and from work).
Does anybody know what's going on there? My theory is that over the holiday season Phipps removed the bollards--due to the crush of visitors and valet parking--and never put them back. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that that's around the time that they started to disappear.
2019-05-08 16:02:09
I was just at phipps last week (Van Gogh show = awesome) and I'm 99% sure that not only were the bollards gone in front of Phipps but also the little mount things for them that are screwed into the pavement. so my guess is that they're just gone gone forever, at least in front of phipps, and it was an active choice to remove them. no idea why.
Also, any special parking for phipps holiday stuff is in the back of phipps, not on the street (other than the usual spaces on the street), so they wouldn't be removed for the holidays.
Did anyone ever get back to you after your 311/domi complaints?
2019-05-30 14:38:37
No response from 311 or DOMI. For the heck of it I just called Phipps. Had a nice conversation with "Trevor", asst. dir. or some such, of guest services. He offered that CMU might be at least partially responsible because he's seen bollards being removed in preparation for buggy practice/races. The plot thickens.
Is this an important issue for Bike Pittsburgh? With the bollards gone I've seen cars and delivery trucks parked in the bike lane, buses dropping people off there, and cars starting to turn the road back into two lanes, like it was before the bike lane went in.
2019-05-30 15:07:21
One other thing: Trevor at Phipps provided a CMU contact -- Kaycee Palko kpalko@andrew.cmu.edu
2019-05-30 15:10:01
whenever i've talked to bike pgh about this I've been told "call 311 to get things fixed." I've also never had success with trying to contact Katrina Ricks directly. not only does she not respond, but I think she's more involved in the planning stages and less on the day to day/taking care of things stage.
And I bet you're right about Buggy. The buggies use that area as the cars run very close to the phipps curve. Maybe someone at CMU forgot to put them back? Although this weekend is pittsburgh grand prix, so my guess is that they may be waiting to put them back until after this weekend is over?
2019-05-30 16:12:17
Thanks for engaging with me on this Eric. The Vintage Grand Prix race weekend through Schenley Park is July 20-21 and the course does not go past Phipps (good thought though, and the event does use the area in front of Phipps for other purposes, I believe). There is, however, a charity walk this weekend, for Children's Hospital, I believe.
2019-05-30 16:21:07
Oh geez. Where is my brain. You're right!!
Maybe CMU removed them, but maybe it's Pittsburgh DPW that has them and stuck them in a warehouse somewhere.
I'd try the CMU person, and if there's no help there then I'd directly contact the Councilperson for Oakland.
I don't think it's Erika Strassburger. i think her district ends at the bridge-
http://pittsburghpa.gov/council/d8
I think it's O'Connor.
http://pittsburghpa.gov/council/d5
His office can get stuff done, especially when it comes to things like bike lanes and Schenley park. After all, the golf course in the park is named after his dad.
2019-05-30 16:57:00
Dom Travisano brought this thread to my attention. I am Kaycee Palko from CMU. Phipps has my contact information related to buggy practices that close down Tech St., Frew St., and Schenley Dr. during the academic year on Saturdays and Sundays from 5-9am for buggy practices. My students do remove the bollards for practice at 5am and lay the bollards on the grass (on the Phipps side) and then put them back in at 9am when practice has ended. They have commented to me that there have been less and less each time they go to remove. So, I am not sure what is going on? Perhaps DPW is not replacing them when they get broken by cars or plows?
2019-06-03 09:32:57
Thanks for responding so promptly and saving me an email Ms. Palko.
2019-06-03 09:47:46