BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

« Back to Archive
16

sq hill to forbes regional, route?

I know there've been a number of threads on squirrel hill -> monroeville. Not sure if the character of 48 changes anything. The more direct routing puts you on there going south, with multiple lanes but no shoulder. Coming the other direction on 48 some quick street viewing suggests a shoulder, but I don't know if there's a whole route to be conceived there. Would be travelling at light traffic (not rush) in broad daylight, with lots of high vis and blinkies anyway because I haven't gone east like this before and am a bit nervous. Suggestions appreciated.
byogman
2014-07-25 16:11:26
I think the best simplest route is through Wilkinsburg to Penn then Greensburg to Airbrake and the Triborough expressway, then Haymaker to Forbes Regional.
jonawebb
2014-07-25 21:32:58
I've biked 48 up from 130 a couple of times. (I've actually unicycled 48 from 130 to 22 a couple of times.) Yes, a decent shoulder much of the way. If you don't feel like biking the whole way, the 69 Trafford bus will get you from Wilkins Ave to the 130/48 corner. If you have to get out on the road itself, yeah, the usual set of things: high-viz, blinkies, make sure people can see you, and take the lane.
stuinmccandless
2014-07-26 06:02:01
I have been looking for a route for years. I work at forbes sometimes and I am just not sure about the traffic on 48/22. One of these days I am gonna do a test ride on a weekend.
stefb
2014-07-26 06:55:01
I'd cut up off 130 earier, taking the left at the CVS in Turtle Creek, and ending up on James Street which is "behind" the mall. That then turns into Northern Pike. Center in Pitcairn to Tilbrook would do the same thing.
swalfoort
2014-07-26 08:04:34
48 is fine up to Macbeth but then has no shoulder the rest of the way up the hill to Haymaker. That's why it's better to take Haymaker up from 130 / Broadway instead of heading up 48. I wouldn't recommend Northern Pike near the intersection with 48 in the morning. The traffic there is hard enough for the motorists. Stu is right about the 69 bus. It's very convenient in either direction, drops you off right at the bottom of the hill there. You could coast down and take the bus home, or take the bus out and then ride up the hill, probably not even get sweaty.
jonawebb
2014-07-26 15:02:16
Option #1: catch the 67 from Sq. Hill. It will drop you at UPMC East. A quick sprint down Mosside will get you to your destination. Option #2: go to the Hay Street Ramp and catch the P12 outbound (there are only three in the morning). It will drop you off on Old Haymaker about a mile from the hospital. Option #3: Ross Ave in Wilkinsburg up to Penn. Follow Penn outbound to Beulah, go right under the parkway and then immediately left onto Churchill Rd. Follow that to Nottingham, cross 22 at Rodi Rd, make the first right and take McCrady/Old William Penn Hwy all the way to Old Haymaker. Go right and follow 48 to Forbes Regional. #3 is pretty much my morning commute if I rode all the way to work (I use the P12 in the AM). The traffic on Penn in the mornings can get a little obnoxious, but overall it's not bad. Old William Penn Hwy has no real shoulder to speak of, but it's also pretty wide which makes close passing less likely. That said, you'll be in suburbia, which is arguably the worst place to be if you expect bicycle-aware motorists to share the road with you. I have very little trouble riding this route home during evening rush hour, but I've been at it for a couple of years now. Good luck!
jaysherman5000
2014-07-28 07:41:54
You could also exit Old William Penn say at Center Road, take that up to the Miracle Mile Shopping center, and work your way over from there to Forbes Regional. You'd avoid some nasty traffic on 48 if you did it right.
jonawebb
2014-07-28 07:52:20
Had a pleasant and surprisingly quick ride this morning, basically along jonawebb's first recommended route except I lost my directions and did something very simple and probably a bit dumb, just stayed on the tri-boro expressway instead of cutting over to airbrake. But there was vanishingly little traffic (9:20ish) so it worked fine. Based on that low traffic experience went up 48 and that was ok too, though it wasn't actually low traffic, but I had just saved enough juice that the end of the climb that not having a shoulder (but there being a passing lane) was not an issue.
byogman
2014-07-28 11:37:06
I stayed on the Triborough the first time I rode out here. It took me a while to figure out alternatives. You rode past my place of work, BTW.
jonawebb
2014-07-28 12:35:35
If that worked ok for you, try getting OFF the Tri Borough, and onto Airbrake. Slower, but calmer (from a rider perspective). Then stay on 130 past 48 (past the Sheetz) and turn left at the next light (then immediately veer left again and uphill.) This is Haymaker. Will take you directly too Forbes Regional. A bit of a climb, but slope evens out considerably by St. Nicholas Church, then even more once you pass the stoplight at the next church.
swalfoort
2014-07-28 13:00:03
Well, going in a little late at least, I could see that being a nice commute. Would probably refine things a little a rush. The suggestion of old william penn highway was interesting. That would've been my go-to without board feedback based on being a less major road but still direct enough looking. Might try it if I go out that way again. My worry, since I didn't have time to street view much, was that there'd be lengths that were 35+, shoulder free and not sharable and/or blind-ish turns (relative to car's preferred speeds). Under those circumstances I prefer taking a lane (or shoulder) on a speedway. Sounds like that's not really the case. Jonawebb, not really sure how to work my way over from miracle mile. I'm guessing there's a connection or two involved in that doable by bike but not officially "road". Do share.
byogman
2014-07-28 13:01:43
@byogman, once you get to the Miracle Mile parking lot you can head out to the east, wrapping around the Panera, then head down behind Lowe's. You could then turn left at the T behind UPMC and right at the next intersection. The road there will take you around UPMC and to a light on 48. You could then take the lane up to Haymaker. It's a block or two, uphill and you have to merge left to get to Forbes, though. Another way is to turn left at the light onto Northern Pike, then right onto Circle, which will take you to the Forbes lot. It's not as nice as the southern route that uses the Tri-boro, though.
jonawebb
2014-07-28 13:19:06
If you ride the 69 Trafford bus, you will learn the various little wiggles needed to avoid Tri-Boro. The 69 timetable may be helpful, if only to look at the map.
stuinmccandless
2014-07-28 14:50:02
Under the conditions I rode in, the tri-boro was ok. That said, dropping into street view, airbrake avenue looked like a pleasant place to ride. Reinforced the notion that I already had that with the right connecting bits the turtle creek are could be really awesome, and that we have to mind the possibility and develop more of our biking "golden triangles" (wherever the water and resulting flat topography branches).
byogman
2014-07-28 15:45:33
In general, figure out where the trolleys were in 1945. By necessity, they adhered to the most dense residential path, the flattest, the shortest from the residences to the places of business. Exactly what they did then, we do now. The 69 Trafford bus route closely follows the old 67F Trafford bus route, which closely followed the Trafford trolley. Everything built since 1945 had cars in mind, the least efficient, the most energy intensive (i.e., hills), the most sprawly sort of development plan. If you can use post-1945 infrastructure in some way without becoming road meat, fine, go ahead and use it. Tri-Boro works because it was overbuilt, a snippet of a grand plan to build highways around the whole area, but that bit is only a couple miles long. In fact, it takes a lot of through traffic off the old trolley path, which makes the latter more attractive, in my view.
stuinmccandless
2014-07-28 16:47:35