BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I recently 311ed about cars parked on the sidewalk of Greenfield Ave. A week later, they replied and said they were going patrol for cars parked on sidewalks, a couple weeks after that, I biked up the hill when there was only ONE car parked on the sidewalk (down from about 20). I can now safely bike up the hill on the sidewalk most days.

The condition of the sidewalk is pretty lousy, but 311 told me the people who own the property are responsible for the sidewalk. If you are complaining about a hazardous sidewalk, you need to include an actual street address for the dangerous sidewalk. Most of the crappy sidewalks are in front of lots with billboards. Not sure what the address of a billboard is.

Give me a Google maps location and I'll check the county real estate records for the owner's address and re-post the info.

There are so many different properties. They need the address where the sidewalk is, not where the owner is. I guess they send out some building inspector to look at the sidewalk, who tells the property owner they need to fix the sidewalk. This is what I made for 311, which I guess is useless: http://omitted.net/images/greenfield_ave_sidewalk.png

I suspect the whole process of giving them an address to getting a new sidewalk probably takes a decade anyway.

This is to acknowledge that the City of Pittsburgh has entered your Service Request.

The Service Request ID is:209906

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

We will inform you when this request has been completed.

Thank you for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

10/20/2010 08:24:03

Summary of Service-Request:

The pavement on Forbes Avenue between Bigelow Boulevard and Craig Street in Oakland, ESPECIALLY right in front of the Carnegie Museum/Lecture Hall, is in TERRIBLE condition. Right now there is a square utility access that is recessed by easily four inches, by Bellefield Avenue. I ride my bicycle on that stretch of Forbes Avenue every day and it is a serious problem and safety hazard to me and other cyclists. The right two lanes, generally, are in great need of maintenance, apart from this and the other potholes--the pavement surface is VERY uneven. Please send a crew ASAP.

I reported the grate gap & walnut zone in the Forbes/Homewood Cemetery lanes. Am hoping some other Park Place / Regent Square folks will do it, too.

Done.

The bike lanes on Forbes Ave (inbound & outbound) are collecting debris again, notably walnuts along the Homewood Cemetery side.

The previously reported Metal Cylinders of Peril that jut from the asphalt just before the Cemetery entrance at S. Dallas and the Stormdrain of Doom immediately after it, remain issues as well.

Topic: Debris in Bike Lanes & Cyclist Safety Issues

Concern: The bike lanes on Forbes Ave (inbound & outbound) are collecting debris again, notably walnuts along the Homewood Cemetery side. The previously reported Metal Cylinders of Peril that jut from the asphalt just before the Cemetery entrance at S. Dallas and the Stormdrain of Doom immediately after it, remain issues as well.

Address of Concern Forbes Ave btwn S. Dallas & S. Braddock, both sides

Reply Thread

311 reply: 10/25/2010 @ 9:19 am

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue.

Regarding the clearing of debris, the Service Request ID number associated with this request is 210348.

Regarding the grate patching, the Service Request ID number associated with this request is 210357.

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center!

Hey, we got the same numbers! Maybe something will actually happen?!?!?

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue.

Regarding the clearing of debris, the Service Request ID number associated with this request is 210348.

Regarding the grate patching, the Service Request ID number associated with this request is 210357.

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center!

if you can't call, there's an online form ( http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/mayor/html/311_request_form.html ). I've tried putting one through on street sweeping ARB, but I'm not sure if it worked, when I click submit all I get is an error page ("IE can't display page", it's a .php page). I tried again in Firefox, it worked there.

here's what I typed " please clean the shoulder of the portion of Allegheny River Boulevard (and Butler Street) that is within the city of Pittsburgh's boundaries. Cyclists use that shoulder and if there's gravel and broken glass there, it's dangerous - it causes them to weave into traffic or risk a blown tire. I'm also working with Penn Hills to get them to clean their part. It would go a long way towards making a marked on-street bike route actually safe to bike. It needs a regular cleaning schedule, not just a one time shot."

fingers crossed!

STORMDRAIN OF DOOOOOOOOOOOM

I just wrote to 311 to ask where are the new bike lanes. You should too.

From the front:

"Over the past year, we worked diligently with the City of Pittsburgh to plan for and design over 12 miles of new bike lanes that we have been waiting patiently to see installed. The City’s contractor was supposed to install these markings last week, but didn’t. We are on the edge of our seats because the end of painting season is fast approaching.

Will we see these new bike lanes and sharrows go in before it’s too late?

And will the City be able to get all 25 miles of new lanes in that the Mayor pledged by the end of next year?

Stay tuned. Same Bike-Time, Same Bike-Channel.

Click here to send an alert to the Mayor’s 311 line asking “where are the bike lanes?”

doesn't/shouldn't Bike Pittsburgh have a more direct channel to public works than 311? or is this a supplementary thing?

But what do you do when the direct channel says "yea, yea, we'll paint those next week!" for the past 7 months?

apparently, this

Well, they have until Nov 2 to get it done, else mad cyclists will revolt in the voting booth citywide!

We have a very direct channel, but 311 is actually a great way to assign a job # and responsibility to people to complete a specific task.

311 isn't the greates for general inquiries/complaints, but is very good for specific things like filling potholes, removing debris, etc. Still, it's great to get people putting bike-related items in the system.

I've been sitting on my ass complaining about the same big pothole across from Leslie Park on 46th for about 3 months now. Whaddya know - I put in a 311 request Sunday night, and they patched it within 24 hours! Thanks for the reminder. I think they might start hearing from me a bit more frequently...

Is iburgh still a black hole for complaints?

I sent two in via iburgh: a cracked step up the st. thomas steps by my house and daycare vehicles blocking fifth avenue sidewalk in uptown next to where the auto dealer, who everyone has griped about, wasn't.

I get a receipt when I submit via the 311 website, but nothing from the iburgh thingy.

I'm not sure about iburgh. i stopped using it, but i did hear that they ironed out the technological wrinkles.

I sent one in about josephine st, between salisbury and 27th specifically. I've had my hands come off the bars from hard bumps.

re: iBurgh

At one point, I did get a notification when I submitted something through iBurgh, but haven't received anything since. It also doesn't let me use pics I take with the app. I take the pic, click on use this, but then it won't move to the second step, so I just use the regular camera function and then select it from the library....that is when I bother to use it since it seems, yet again, useless.

Hey, wow, look what I just got!

>This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

This is RE walnuts & pothole around the grate next to the Homewood Cemetery entrance. I have not been able to go past it for a couple of days.

I'll probably be headed up Forbes tomorrow. I'll be interested to see if they did anything about the Cylinders of Peril as well.

The Cylinders of Peril remain perilous. The Stormdrain of Doom has been downgraded to "Still Probably a Bad Idea" status. They did patch the holes between the asphalt and the grate, so now if you hit it, you'd just have a bad bounce (it's still set below street level and at an angle, and, you know, it's on a grade...)--assuming you are going faster than I ever am by the time I reach it, whereas before it probably would have lept up, tossed you to the ground and kicked you for falling. No, I do not have an overactive imagination.

Walnuts were gone, but the leaves are starting to pile up on the grates again. Heh.

I submitted a 311 online, and never got an email confirmation or anything. Wondering if I should use a city resident address - are only residents allowed to use 311?

I was under the impression that anyone can make a complaint. They're spotty on responding, frankly.

The first email you should get is sent automatically without human intervention. It's unlikely their automatic system was intentionally set up to discard any requests before a person even sees them.

My guess is either the city's replies were eaten by your spam filter, or else there was some other email problem. I've submitted half a dozen requests online, and got a full set of email replies for all of them, I think. (After the automated reply, you should get a reply early the next business day when a person reads your complaint and enters it into the city's system, and then another when the problems is resolved.)

Try calling them and see if they can search their 311 database using your name, phone number, or the problem location. My guess is your report is there, and it's just an email problem.

thanks Steven. It'd be easier at this point to just enter it in again, and see if I have better success. It did take me a few tries to get it to work. I checked spam filter first to see if that was it, no spam yet (miracle of miracles).

Just submitted the Railroad St manhole/drainage grate complaint. Also asked if a policy could be instated to 1. bring these types of things up to street grade any time a street is paved and 2. always install/replace bike-unfriendly grates with bike friendly designs. I hope to start a larger conversation with PWSA about this.

I'm about to report this one:





right by the gas station/parking garage on e carson/station square - I've hit those 7 grates that are down lower than the rest before, and even though I saw it coming and anticipated them, it was still very unpleasant. Imagine hitting that when it's covered in snow, so you can't see it and your hands/brakes/road/grates are wet and slippery. Ouch.

As a matter of fact, I have (made my 311 complaint this week). I sent this to http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/mayor/html/311_request_form.html:

----

The sidewalk on the 40th St Bridge needs to be cleaned of glass! It's a hazard for bicyclists and pedestrians! Imagine taking small kids on a stroll across that bridge - what a tragedy to spoil a beautiful bridge and a beautiful view of Pittsburgh with piles and piles of broken glass! Please send street sweepers to the SIDEWALKS of that bridge several times a year. See picture at http://picasaweb.google.com/pheckbert/BicycleHazardsInPittsburgh#

And clean up the sidewalks of the Glenwood Bridge and Homestead-Grays bridges, too!

----

here's an article in wired about how useful 311 is in nyc

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/11/ff_311_new_york/

Regarding my complaint (see 1 week ago) to the city's 311 web system about glass on the 40th St Bridge sidewalk, I got an email that this is county-maintained.

So I sent my complaint to http://www.alleghenycounty.us/feedback/index.asp

Is the county responsive to requests there?

Paul: Try here - http://spcregion.org/trans_pedbike_high.shtml

if anyone wants to join my complaint crusade to get cars off the sidewalk on black st, that would be awesome. I know enough people complained on main and fisk and it worked. people FLY on black and mossfield, and having cars parked in the street like they belong would maybe slow them down.

but my main issue is that the cars are on the sidewalk and its a dangerous place to walk--so we NEED the sidewalk to be clear, not to mention there is no way to get around the cars if you are handicapped.

thanks yall!

also, how many times should i do this? once a day til it is taken care of?

you can't walk on the sidewalks in Arlington because of the cars on the sidewalk, too...

and even on the sidewalks, half of their mirrors are torn off.

Caitlin, I think it isn't so much 311, but what station is responsible for ticking those cars.

There were cars parked on Greenfield Ave all summer. I eventually got tired of it, and filed a 311 complaint, only once. They replied after about a week or so that all three shifts would patrol for illegally parked cars, and the cars were all moved a couple weeks after that.

sweet dwillen, i look forward to that day

I reported the cars on arlington and josephine when I was walking on the sidewaqlk between an SUV and a fence, and someone had to walk around the car on the street side.

i received a notice that they are monitoring and citing this week. which is great because i walked the damn street to get to work and mossfield/black street is not fun to walk on

In case anyone else has run into this: I just submitted a request to have the bike lanes on S. Millvale Ave swept. As of 9:00 last night, lanes in both directions were littered with either shattered glass or plastic - either way, it looked unfriendly to tires.

Cars started to creep back on the sidewalk on Greenfield Ave as of last night. Whatever the fine is, it doesn't seem to be enough to deter people after having received a ticket or two.

IIRC blocking a sidewalk with a car is $15.

I believe blocked sidewalks are an ADA violation. A civil suit for that could cost a bit more than $15.

Someone should put together a nice ticket-sized pamphlet explaining such, and tuck them under the wiper blades of the scofflaws.

I would take many of them and tuck them under the wipers on my way up arlington/down josephine.

[submitted to 311]

Topic of Concern: Dangerous path behind Reizenstein

Message: The end of Putnam Street, just before it dead ends into Social Way has two dangerous spots: a large gaping hole adjacent to a fire extinguisher. The hole appears to be a failing sewer pipe and is large enough for a bicyclist or pedestrian to fall into. There is also a large, impassable puddle across the entire road with potholes at the bottom. This area is poorly lit at night and is a popular path between shadyside and bakery square/mellon park for pedestrians, bicyclists, and park users. Very dangerous.

Incident Address: Putnam St @ Social Way, behind Reizenstein

[ok, pseudacris' report and the jab in the other thread finally motivated me...]

I commute by bicycle daily from Squirrel Hill to Bakery Square via Social Way, making a right onto Putnam St. Several of my co-workers also use this route by bicycle and on foot.

A month or so ago, a very large hole opened up in the street near the fire hydrant. The hole is several feet wide and deep and someone could easily fall into it and be injured.

Although the street is closed to traffic, I assume it is still a valid pedestrian route and should be maintained. It is a vital link between Shadyside and East Liberty.

[response]

This hole was reported yesterday, and the appropriate personnel has been notified. We appreciate your patience in this matter.

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center.

Your submission has been assigned a Ticket ID number: 12133. (12133!? wow. my last one from april was 6213.)

Topic of Concern: Holes in Bridge Walkway

Message: This afternoon, as I was biking across the upstream side of the Smithfield Street Bridge pedestrian walkway, I observed 1" to 3" wide holes in the decking. There is significant corrosion at nearly ever butted joint between the steel deck pans. The joints have corroded, broken through the wearing surface and are exposed to the elements. This is at least a tripping hazard and at worst a not so subtle preamble to eminent collapse of a walkway section. Please Fix. Happy Holidays.

Incident Address: Smithfield Street Bridge Upstream Pedestrian Walkway

I've been meaning to report that for weeks.

I got a response to a recent 311 that included a link to an online tracking system. It isn't linked from the normal 311 form, and I haven't seen it mentioned here.

The coolest thing of it is, they keep track of all 311 submissions from my email address, all in one place.

http://dev.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/feedbackcenter/

They seem to include the initial response, but any followups after that are not attached to the submission for some reason.

Also: slightly creepy, but you might not want to post ID numbers on here anymore, or maybe mask them slightly. That or use an email address people could not easily find online. If you have a Ticket ID number and an email address the person used to submit the ticket, you can view all their tickets and submit replies.

Your submission has been assigned a Ticket ID number: 12164.

Topic of Concern Bike Lane

Message On Tuesday, I was walking through Schenley Park and noticed that the equipment used to clear the sidewalks was using the bike lane to go back up the hill. He had his sweeper in the "up" position. Since he's using the lane anyway, is there any reason why he can't clear that lane of debris. It rarely gets cleared, and when people ride on it, they are forced to go out into traffic

called in the sidewalks on penn ave this afternoon. Told them about how there's not enough room between vendors for pedestrian traffic to flow. I stressed that I like the vendors, I'm glad they're there, but they make it extremely difficult to get to them.

they said they'd send building inspectors to investigate that (because that's what the sidewalks of the business district fall under). I said, "It may be hell to do so, but see if they can't go on a saturday - that's when the real problems occur.

I pointed out two in particular that I had trouble with today as well.

There's a huge puddle that forms at the corner of Forbes at Oakland Avenue, at Joe Mama's, whenever there's rain. I submitted it a few weeks back and again now.

That puddle allows me to hone my long jump. Until the day comes when I land on a big ice patch, then it just gives me a really awful story to tell when everyone who asks why my arm is in a cast. "well, you see, there was this big puddle near Joe Mama's..."

called to see if someone could plow the parts of spring way in the strip that have a few inches of snow on it. They said they'd send someone out, since the plows were still roaming around.

Message sent to 311 a week ago:

"Approximately one month ago, bike lanes were installed on Wilkins Avenue. I specifically want to comment on the intersection of Dallas and Wilkins where the road significantly narrows at the turn.

I do not ride this route on my bicycle every day but on every day that I have in the past month, both early in the morning and in the evening, a vehicle has been parked in the bike lane.

It is a dark Chevy Trailblazer LT, with PA plate HDZ-7070, I would guess parked in front of his own home rather than in the driveway.

Because of the alignment of the bike lane and the place where this vehicle parks, the bike lane is squeezed to approximately half it's width. As cars and buses typically come around that corner with little diminishment in speed, it is very dangerous for any cyclist attempting to use this bike lane as there is no room for all three vehicles. In any conflict for space, the cyclist will loose. Perhaps catastrophically so.

I suggest that the owner of this vehicle be contacted to, at a minimum, move his vehicle forward where there is ample space for parking or even put his vehicle in his driveway. Parking in the bikelane here is unacceptably dangerous."

Response from the city:

"Summary of Service-Request: Car parked in bike lane on Wilkins at Dallas, causing narrowing of bike lane at corner. Cars/busses turn and push bikes off the road. Not enough room with car parking there. Please ticket cars parked in bike lane here."

Kordite - is that on the inbound or outbound side of Wilkins?

I found this response kind of funny, because isn't ALL snow removal pushing it from one place to another...I guess this falls under the heading of, "God hears all you prayers, but sometimes the answer is NO" file:

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

The Service Request Identification-Number is: 215004

Summary of action taken:

Per DPW 3rd Div:

I believe what he's talking about is our steiner with broom, it is used for snow removal, clearing the sidewalk.

If it is used on the bike lane all I will be doing is pushing is from one place to another.

Summary of Service-Request:

Per complainant:

"On Tuesday, I was walking through Schenley Park and noticed that the equipment used to clear the sidewalks was using the bike lane to go back up the hill. He had his sweeper in the "up" position. Since he's using the lane anyway, is there any reason why he can't clear that lane of debris. It rarely gets cleared, and when people ride on it, they are forced to go out into traffic."

Please clean debris from bike lanes in Schenley Park.

@ejwme That's on the inbound side.

http://d1nud0pthq5kwl.cloudfront.net/orig_post_21981.jpeg

iloveclones - unlike God, the city of pittsburgh is accountable to the good citizens of pittsburgh. you're right that snow removal is just pushing snow from one place to another - this person has just decided that it's not worth it. Seems as though additional 311 complaints are required to recallibrate him/her.

kordite - thank you! I thought the lane just dissappeared there, I didn't realize that it went under the parked cars.

During street sweeping season, the bike lane on Greenfield is kept surprisingly clear. I don't know how often they come through, but crap doesn't hang around for more than one day, usually.

Now that sweeping season has ended, there is a good bit of leaf litter and other rubbish in the lane. Not sure if the plow-brush thing would be able to remove that stuff or not. I know when they brush the sidewalks, the snow is blown off the side. In the bike lane, they would have to brush the snow up a hill. Maybe that is what the guy is talking about? Can their machine actually toss snow, or does it just brush it to the side?

Maybe he/she misunderstands and thinks you want him to brush the snow off the edge of the road back onto the sidewalk? "pushing is [sic] from one place to another." If the sidewalk and bike lane were actually on the same side of the road, this statement would make sense. Brush snow into bike lane, then brush it from the bike lane back to the sidewalk?

Biking in conditions like this, I don't know if I have enough hubris to infer that City of Pgh is more accountable than God....

I actually just posted it because I thought the response was kind of funny. I can imagine having a conversation with the guy sweeping it:

Me: Would you mind using your wonderful machine to remove the snow from the bike lane?

Sweeping Guy: I can't. There's debris preventing me.

Me: Wellllll, then would you mind removing the debris?

Sweeping Guy: Sorry. Call 311. That's another guy.

The debris in the bike lane (also on Forbes Ave bike lane) is actually more of a concern, as you have to go out into traffic to avoid it. And cars tend to cut into that bike lane, either going around the bend, or when left turning traffic stacks up at the top of the hill.

topic :snow covered bike trails

Concern

I keep hoping this will be the day the bike trails get cleaned - a quick brush would do wonders to make them safer to ride on. Will these be done at all this winter?

Address of Concern

Reply Thread

311 reply: 01/10/2011 @ 2:48 pm

Please specify which trail needs cleared off. Where is the snow build up that needs removed on the bike trails?

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center.

I replied that the entire Jail trail and Panther Hollow trail were covered in snow and it appeared they had not been cleaned since it snowed last week.

Include Hot Metal Bridge and Southside trail, if they call back.

Or you can make your own request- I feel the more people that contact them, the more they think are paying attention and will benenfit by cleaning the trails. I did it by email.

http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/mayor/html/311_request_form.html

I'm leaving work now, so I'll make a loop and send one in. they haven't responded to my Smithfield Street Bridge rusty holes report from a month ago, hope the nonresponse isn't a pattern...

just 311'd the snow on the bike lanes on liberty and all over spring way.

I tried calling, and their hours for the day were done with, so I tried to leave a message but after it said the leave the message at the tone, it then said "I'm sorry, we are unable to do that" and hung up.

I just put in a request to clear the Panther Hollow Trail and the south side sidewalk along Fifth Ave from Birmingham Bridge to Craft.

Would someone else out there be willing to put in a request to clear the bike lanes on:

1. Liberty

2. Wilkins

3. Dallas

I'm not sure how they are on the other streets, but I know for sure the snow is piling up in these.

Submitted 311 request:

Please clear the following bike lanes/paths of snow as soon as possible.

-Forbes Avenue from S. Braddock to Dallas

-Dallas bike lanes

-Panther Hollow trail

-Eliza Furnace Trail.

Lots of folks are commuting by bicycle year round. Please also ask the person who clears the sidewalks around the Parking Garage exit on 2nd avenue not to block the sidewalk leading to the Eliza Furnace Trail with the moved snow. All the snow was pushed into a big heap on the sidewalk near the bike rental place, preventing access to the trail. Thanks for all your hard work: I appreciate the 311 service and being able to use bicycles throughout the city. I would only anticipate bicycle use to go UP as the transit faces more cuts. Thanks again for your attention to this matter.

This morning I followed behind a Pittsburgh public works truck down Panther Hollow Rd past Phipps into Oakland. He had a plow and salt spreader. He didn't do anything until we got to the bridge between the library and Phipps, where he dropped his plow and started spreading salt on the shoulder of the road, where those white hash marks are, and where most people would bike. The driving lane was entirely clear, so it was cool to see they go back over it and clear the sides too.

According to @pghtrails twitter feed, Panther Hollow Trail was plowed after our 311 request. It seems to be working. Keep speaking up.

@Hyla, let us know how Forbes & Dallas looks today?

The inbound bike lane on Forbes has *not been plowed as of noon-ish Saturday. The sidewalk *has been marginally plowed but not salted. Helpful to pedestrians but looked pretty useless for my Vittoria Randonneur tires. I took the lane.

I'll check out Panther Hollow & at least part of Dallas on my way back.

These things looked worse than your average pothole, they're really deep - pretty much as soon as you cross Forbes and start going up the hill. I was in a car when I saw them and there's at least one on each side so also watch for people swerving to avoid them.

----

Heading North on Wightman, at the start of the 1600 block just North of Forbes, there are 2 or 3 large and very deep potholes. I saw them yesterday (1/23) around 2pm.

----

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID number associated with this request is xxxx.

hit up the middle of market square which was all slick today, but you couldn't see which parts were going to be. Also sent in reports of the potholes between downtown and the strip on penn, and a torn up sidewalk corner on liberty and 36th. I'm feeling productive.

I called in to 311 yesterday to ask the city to fill in the craters where Wightman crosses Forbes. I've been down with flu so it was a big disappointment when I got out for the first time in weeks and saw that these potholes haven't been dealt with yet. The biggest one, being right at the end of the bike path, is downright deadly...so watch yourself.

Thanks meaculpa. Let us know when they're filled in.

the 4 inch deep pothole outside of eide's entertainment on penn has been filled in

I just 311'd the lousy pavement patch at Forbes and Bouquet.

Summary of action taken:

Per DPW 3rd Div:

Street was patched 1/26/11.

Summary of Service-Request:

2-3 large potholes on Wightman at 1699 Wightman. This is near the start of the 1600 block of Forbes,.

You reported it on 1/24 and they patched it on 1/26? That's pretty fast action.

Summary of action taken:

Per DPW 3rd Div:

We don't do winter maintenance on trails 1/20/11

Summary of Service-Request:

Please remove snow from bike trail:

"The entire Panther Hollow trail is snow covered. I am a bit suprised you need to ask- it appeared none of these had been cleared since it snowed last week, although I was out of town Friday and Saturday."

Interesting response- maybe they thought I was talking about the non-paved foot trails? Was I supposed to write paths instead?

Steven - I didn't notice the date but I'm not sure that's accurate. I am pretty sure I was through there on the evening of the 26th or 27th and the holes were still there, though I haven't been back since to check. I also don't recall when 'meaculpa' made that post about what may be the same holes (I wish this board gave you a date instead of or in addition to the vague timestamps).

Of course, all this assumes that DPW patched the same holes I reported - note that my oriignal description (which itself probably could have been more precise) got transformed into something else.

helen s. that is inaccurate. they do snow removal on the trails, and it's supposed to be done as soon as the streets are cleared.

I would do a followup to that service request number and kindly say something like "this response is in contrast to what DPW Director Kaczorowski told the cycling community this year - that the trails are supposed to be maintained after the streets have been plowed or salted. Many people depend on this trail for transportation and recreation and not maintaining it is simply unsafe."

I got the same "we don't do" response as Helen did.

Scott, I'll follow your advice as well.

City wants to know location of potholes

Thursday, February 10, 2011

By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The city of Pittsburgh wants to know about those potholes.

Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski today asked residents to report potholes at www.pittsburghpothole.com or the 311 line. Non-residents may call 412-255-CITY.

Complaints should be as detailed as possible; street addresses, intersections and landmarks will help workers get to the right places.

The city said it will attempt to address complaints with five days, but hopes to respond to many within 72 hours. Public works crews on two eight-hour shifts will be filling potholes as long as the weather cooperates.

"Residents need to be aware that crews can only use cold-patch material in this weather, which means that potholes will only hold the fill if they are two-inches deep or more," Mr. Kaczorowski said. "As soon as the weather gets warmer and more durable hot-patch becomes available, we will be able to more effectively fill all potholes."

Potholes top the list of complaints to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's 311 line. As of this morning, public works had handled 234 pothole complaints for the season.

If the city receives a complaint about a pothole on a state road, it will refer the caller to PennDOT.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11041/1124472-147.stm#ixzz1DZeMXz5L

I did write back, pointing out I was referring to the Bicycle Path, which does get cleared with some regularity.

sent in a report regarding the enormous ice patch at spring/22nd by leaf & bean today.

^ I just passed that monstrosity -- thanks for reporting it!

The ice sheet was being drilled away yesterday morning, they actually blocked off 22nd street to do so, and now it's 90% gone - much safer to ride/drive across than it was. I'll probably email 311 to give an acknowledgement/thanks of the action being taken so quickly.

Question.... can one ask the city to "sweep" a street because it is unsafe?

There is a group of blocks on Penn Avenue before one gets to the Strip District that are filthy with metal-like objects where the City/whoever has been doing street work?

I got a flat tire once-again on that area yesterday -this time a 2" nail that went through entirely. Before that a couple of months ago it was a piece of sharpnel about an 1" long, and before that another piece of sharpnel about the same size.... it is always between the blocks of 31th & Penn, and 26th & Penn on the Bike Lane...

Thoughts?

oops - double posting again... this is happening too often now... could the board be 'breaking down'??

Yeah, the bike lanes on Beechwood could use a good sweeping. in fact... submitted!

PS: dumb question, but are you possibly hitting 'send post' twice?

wow, that was the quickest 311 response ever... it was so fast i was afraid it was going to be bad news, but alas:

TOPIC

stones/debris in beechwood bike lanes

CONCERN

I ride on Beechwood Blvd between Wilkins and 5th daily in each direction. There is a lot of stones and other debris in the bike lanes, can that be swept up?

ADDRESS OF CONCERN

1000-1400 Beechwood Blvd

Reply Thread

311 reply: 02/16/2011 @ 3:11 pm

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID number associated with this request is xxxxxx.

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center!

I expect they wont sweep it until sweeping season, whenever that starts.

I thought the same thing (which isn't until Apr. 1) - but I saw a sweeper out and about somewhere last week, so maybe there is hope.

I saw a street sweeper out today. Cannot remember were it was, but I did see one. There was a lot of dust coming up around it.

Sweet. The Panther Hollow Rd underpass coming off the bridge is like a gravel pit. I will submit a 311.

reported the group of potholes around the manhole cover at penn/12th outbound yesterday and got a response this morning.

I also left a voicemail about cars on the sidewalk on liberty/herron

Sent my 311! Hopefully I'll hear back soon!

reporting spring way.

If anyone here takes that street, I'd avoid it today, unless digging shards of broken glass out of your tires is how you usually spend a sunday night...thankfully I have knobby tires and went looking for glass before they caused me to flat.

It is really encouraging to browse this bboard and see how many people are active on this issue!

I reported snowplows pushing snow onto the bike trail near Station Square (reported to Friends of the Riverfront, not to the city's 311 system -- not sure which would be best in this case). See picture at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/pheckbert/BicycleHazardsInPittsburgh?pli=1&gsessionid=lmdEkHMFLcqPsM_utvETYg#5579872762776346194

In December I reported to PennDOT the broken glass on the 40th St Bridge sidewalk:

---

Date: 2010/12/10 10:18:41 AM EST

PennDOT reference number 20101210-D11-8BZKVN

The sidewalk on the 40th St Bridge needs to be cleaned of glass! It's a hazard for bicyclists and pedestrians! Imagine taking small kids on a stroll across that bridge - what a tragedy to spoil a beautiful bridge and a beautiful view of Pittsburgh with piles and piles of broken glass! Please send street sweepers to the SIDEWALKS of that bridge several times a year. See picture at http://picasaweb.google.com/pheckbert/BicycleHazardsInPittsburgh#

---

Three months later, I got a two word response from PennDOT:

---

Customer complaint/issue concern from Paul Heckbert has been resolved.Resolution: cleaned areaThe following complaint/issue concern has been resolvedReference number: 20101210-D11-8BZKV

---

I wonder if they noticed my request for cleaning on a regular basis?

just got this email:

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

The Service Request Identification-Number was: 222575

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

Thank you again for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

03/04/2011 11:12:23

Summary of Service-Request:

On the southeast corner of penn ave at 12 street in the strip district, there are several potholes surrounding a manhole cover, some of them 2 inches deep, including one that is less than 10 feet up the road (heading outbound)

Summary of action taken:

Per DPW 6th Div:

Patched 3/2/11

I'm gonna go out of my way tomorrow to see it. I've been griping about that pothole forever, it seems.

Just reported the man-eating pothole on Roup between Baum and Negley heading south.

I just reported this one: If you're eastbound on Forbes Ave in Frick Park, there's a very deep pothole where it bends to the left 2000 ft after crossing Dallas Ave, in the right lane. A bicyclist riding near the bike lane could crash due to this pothole.

fwiw, still no sign of that street sweeper on beechwood. but at least there's kind of a path through the debris, and NO POTHOLES in the bike lane.

i also have no idea if they ever fixed those potholes on wightman @ forbes - there are so many damn potholes everywhere it's hard to keep track. i hit a pretty nasty one tonight on millvale before the bridge on the bloomfield side.

and of course the gaping hole on the "northeast passage" is just getting bigger.

so, i'm 0/3 on 311's - not particularly encouraging me to keep at it.

Forbes inbound near the cemetery was being patched this morning. Woo Hoo!!!

Reported branches on Forbes outbound, east of Beechwood. Requested a sweep of bike lanes in both directions.

Also requested that the sucker growing out of the Plane tree @ Ellsworth & Aiken be trimmed by an arborist.

The city swept the forbes bike lanes and today I received this update about the branches:

Too bad they don't just keep a little bypass pruner in their glove box.

TOPIC

cars parked on the sidewalk

CONCERN

Everyday B Fields Motors (2340 Fifth Avenue) parks cars on the mixed use (Bike/Pedestrian) sidewalk along the south side of 5th Ave. Today (4/6/11 - 1:30pm) I biked past and an employee and a man with City of Pittsburgh Police uniform were outside, so I mentioned to them that it was illegal to park and block the whole sidewalk. The officer yelled at me that I should "go suck my own dick". Real professional.

ADDRESS OF CONCERN

2340 Fifth Avenue

RESOLUTION

Dispatched DPW worker to your residence to assist with autofellatio. Thank you and have a nice day.

Serious. What hope is there when some cop is standing right there, and cusses you out when you point out someone is breaking a law. I really wish I had a camera.

Really makes you lose all hope that anything will change or you will be treated fairly under any circumstances. Are these people paying off the police to park on the sidewalk or what?

@dwillen, did you happen to notice the officer's name?

@dwillen "go suck my own dick".

Take pics or it didn't happen.

@Pseudacris: No, we rode away. I didn't care to hang out when someone on a power trip yells something like that. At first couldn't believe he was a real cop, but the person I was riding with swore it was a legit police uniform.

That would have beyond beyond beyond awesome to get on helmet cam. Youtube Gold.

Cop car just ran a stop sign from my left and nearly clipped me. I had already stopped and was starting to go again, crossing in front of him. He might have slowed down to 15mph so I'm sure it would have only hurt a little. I tried to give him the suggestion the other cop gave dwillen but he must have been out of earshot by then. Or maybe it was a lady cop and i had the genetalia wrong. In either case, it was really nice, no wonder no one else cares about traffic laws - I mean, as long as it's not a cyclist breaking them, of course.

The city emailed me to say that, yes, they would trim the suckers from that plane tree @ Ellsworth + Aiken, they're just not sure when.

They emailed me that they forwarded my complaint to police. I'm sure someone will get a few pats on the back as that is passed around the precinct.

Totally useless process, as if nobody has ever complained about cars parked on that sidewalk before. When you're buddies with the guy who is supposed to write you a ticket, do you really think you'll get a ticket?

In my dream world a litigious wheelchair user sues them for ADA compliance issues. Anyone know someone like that?

When the police union is stronger than the civilian review board, there is a structural problem.

I've made a point to cal 311 twice regarding the cars on the sidewalk on liberty/herron by that bar and auto body shop since you posted that.

Those cars force me to walk dangerously close to speeding cars driven by people on cell phones pretty much every day.

I just reported this to 311:

Pothole on the Duck Hollow Trail (bicycle trail). Reachable by car but only if you have a key to the gate at the Duck Hollow Parking Lot.

There's a 2' deep pothole / crack in the asphalt trail where water erosion undermined the trail. Very serious! Some bicyclist could get hurt here: imagine a young child blundering into this 2' deep hole. Location: directly across the river from Costco.

Woah, did you get those tick marks correct (two feet deep)? I might have to take a ride out there and check out the duck canyon.

I assume this only works for the city proper and not townships with "Pittsburgh" mailing addresses?

"this"? You mean fixing problems, or residency status for reporting them? Anyone can report a problem. If it isn't the city's responsibility, they often forward your issue to the appropriate party (or tell you who that would be).

Yes, by "this" I implied the 311 non-emergency service.

If in doubt just submit it. Anyone can use it.

Or try http://spcregion.org/trans_pedbike_high.shtml for any bike/pedestrian issues in the 10-county SW PA area. My experience with 311 on a non-City of Pittsburgh issue is they'll tell you whom to call instead, while the SPC actually passes your issue to the right people.

Topic

hole around manhole cover

Concern

On the Boulevard of the Allies eastbound just past Chancery Way there is a large and deep hole around a manhole. cannot speak for how this would effect a car driving over it, but were a bicycle to hit it I suspect the rider would fall in traffic.

Address of Concern

Boulevard of Allies and Chancery way

Reply Thread

311 reply: 04/27/2011 @ 1:55 pm

This roadway is maintained by PennDOT, not the City of Pittsburgh. To report concerns on this roadway, please contact PennDOT at (412) 429-5000.

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center.

I am shocked that the city does not maintain the Boulevard in downtown. Is this really true?

The city did trim the Plane tree at Ellsworth + Aiken. Huzzah!

Edit: @helen s...that is interesting about the Blvd. I wonder if the city handles the part west of Grant & Penn Dot the highway-like part that leads to Oakland?

FWIW, the city's salt route map (PDF) shows the Blvd of the Allies as a state route all through downtown, and as far east as Halket.

Thanks Steven- when my follow up inquired if there existed a map which would designate which roads were city and which were Penn Dot, they said it did not exist and I should just call the number they game me.

@dwillen: yes, 2 feet deep. I just got an email from the 311 Call Center: "Per DPW 3rd Div: PWSA was working at this location due to watermain break. Please inform us if they are no longer there."

Note: DPW=Pittsburgh Department of Public Works, PWSA=Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority.

I haven't been down there this week. Has anybody seen the current status?

Here's a picture from April 20:

Wow.. that looks way deeper than 2 feet. Scary.

Can anyone report on the status of the Forbes Ave bike lane through Frick Park? I heard last week that it was full of debris. 311 was notified. Has the City responded?

Just sent this one about the bike lanes on Dallas. Took that route the other day and the paint is almost gone due to the snow plows. Good times.

"Over the winter the bike lanes and markings on Dallas Ave from Hamilton to Penn have begun fading or in some cases have disappeared."

re: Forbes. Last Thursday after a rain the storm drains were collecting debris and there were a lot of loose rock and twigs in the lane. There was also a dead dear. That combined with the 35 mph traffic has me either taking the lane or a different route.

Reported:

There are several very large and deep potholes near the yellow dividing lines at the intersection of Reynolds & Beechwood, close to Mellon Park. The holes present a serious hazard to cyclists traveling from the Mellon Rec. Area parking lot towards Reynolds via the short section of Beechwood.

Thanks to Tom Baxter at Friends of the Riverfront, and Pittsburgh Department of Public Works, the major erosion on the Duck Hollow Trail got repaired last week. Here's what it looked like as of May 5 (photo from my pal Yale). So it's dirt for a 100' or so, for now, but at least the 2 foot holes are gone. Tom says "the city has plans to pave soon".

Reported the people who block the entrance to Reizenstein Park from Shadyside. I feel like a jerk but it wasn't until they started getting selfish and taking up the entire entrance that it was an issue.

I think this thread is busted.

Summary of Service-Request:

Please enforce the NO PARKING ZONE sign at Festival Way and Social St. Cars park at the entrance to Reizenstein Park at this location and block the entrance with their car. It is difficult to get into the park. There is posted NIO PARKING ZONE signs.

I love the statement that cars park their cars there...

Actually, I made this one after riding in Pedal Pittsburgh:

As a cyclist of Pedal Pittsburgh following the 15 mile route, it was unsafe in certain areas as Pedal Pittsburgh and another charity walk (March for Babies?) crossed paths. Along River Avenue and Penn Avenue, walkers were in the streets in car lanes. After crossing the 16th Street Bridge to make the right on Penn Avenue, no crossing guards were on duty. Walkers were crossing the street on red from the sidewalk of the 16th Street Bridge. This made for an unpleasant encounter as cyclist attempted to make the right on Penn Avenue on green. In areas where there were crossing guards, safe passage was obtained. It is my understanding that event routes are approved by the City. If this is the case, it seems to me that these routes needed better safety considerations.

FWIW, mid-May and as far as I can tell the bike lanes on Beechwood that I 311'd in Feb have never been swept. Even better, today they patched a bunch of potholes so now there's even MORE debris, and it's oily and sticky!

311 backlogged: http://post-gazette.com/pg/11145/1148910-53.stm

You mean the building inspectors didn't investigate why they weren't receiving any complaints for almost a whole month? Astonishing!

They were locked out of their cars for 2 months before the press solved that problem for them.

Thought #1: Zipcar could have made good use of some of that $694,000 in taxpayer money, spread the cars out around the city a little better, and made it a lot easier for other subscribers to have cars available.

Thought #2: Has anyone who works for these public organizations tried to figure out how to get the job done using buses and bicycles? If they're hauling around a clipboard, laptop and/or a camera, and little else, I suspect there are a couple of people on this board who could help them with that. If they really do need to haul around 100# of equipment, I guess that's something else again. But as I keep saying, over and over, "anything but the car", and that goes for civil servants, too.

I reported the shifted drain grate that I posted in the longitudinal drain grates thread.

"Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 17312"

I said this:

"See http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/dangerous-longitudinal-drain-grates/page/3#post-72871 A drain grate on eastbound ENorthAve has shifted sideways enough to eat a bicycle tire. Separately, around the corner on Cedar Ave, southbound just before East Ohio St, is a nasty pothole big enough to dump a bicyclist or bend a rim."

Today's Complaint: Recent below-grade utility work in East Liberty has been followed up by unacceptable and deplorable road patching and resurfacing. One place is in front of my house at 529 N Euclid and the second of note (and there are probably more) is at N Beatty St. The contractor threw blacktop patch loosely into their 6x15' cutout without tamping it down and it has resulted in a very poor road surface. I have notified PWSA as well, but our street is already bad enough from utility work followed up by poor road resurfacing.

Backlog must be cleared I already got a response!

It sounded like the backlog was only for building inspectors... but the crappy thing about 311 is there is no closing the loop - you get a response that its been seen and maybe routed but there's no feedback when the work is done. It would be cool if they used some thing like a bug tracking system so you could follow the issue to completion.

I've gotten emails from 311 that seem to indicate the work's been done.

Typically I get three emails:

1. Immediately from a web submission.

Subject: 311 Feedback - Submission Receipt

Thanks for your submission!

Your submission has been assigned a Ticket ID number: ###

2. When they enter it.

Subject: City of Pittsburgh - Call Center Service Request

This is to acknowledge that the City of Pittsburgh has entered your Service Request.

The Service Request ID is:#####

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

We will inform you when this request has been completed.

Thank you for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

3. When it's done.

Subject: City of Pittsburgh - Call Center Service Request

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

The Service Request Identification-Number was: XXXXX

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

Thank you again for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

11/09/2010 11:50:03

Summary of Service-Request:

XXXXXX

Location: XXXXX

Summary of action taken:

Additional details can be provided upon request.

I've never gotten one where the "action taken" part is filled in, but for mine the appropriate action has always been pretty obvious, and the third email does claim the request's been completed.

On the other hand, if I look the issue up on their web site, it always says "We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue." with no further feedback.

Hm... I've never received email #3... but good to know it *can* happen. Maybe some departments do "close" the issue and some don't.

In response to the 311 I reported about the Pedal Pittsburgh and March of Dimes events colliding, here's the final response:

311 Response Web Form Reply Notification

The following reply has been made to Ticket ID #17075:

The City's Special Events Co-Ordinator responded to the complaint, stating the following:

"I have received other complaints about both events and obviously they cannot coexist in the future. I appreciate your input and will be meeting with both organizations for next year. They will not be held the same day in 2012.

Thank you."

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center.

So. Can we all get together to 311 the Allegheny Center development on the North Side? It is really hideous. There are weeds growing up through the cracks in the one plaza area. Alternatively, it could just be demolished and the area restored to its pre-1960s appearance.

If anyone here regularly rides up East End Ave between the co-op & Regent Square, the neighbors could use some help nudging the city to fix the worsening sinkholes on the 500 block, just before Forbes Ave. Please 311 if you ride through that area with any regularity.

Ah, that reminds me I forgot to 311 this doozy I saw on the way to try a bike. That pit was several feet deep and completely uncovered!

INCIDENT ADDRESS stanton ave/lake dr.

TOPIC OF CONCERN

missing drain grate on stanton/lake

MESSAGE

Heading north on Stanton, around where it becomes lake (between the tennis courts and connecting rd), one of the storm drain grates is completely missing exposing a very large and deep hole. I noticed this on July 2 around noon.

I haven't heard anything about this since the initial ack, has anyone been down there? It's in the brick "gutter" so you probably wouldn't be riding there anyways but it could be a hell of a surprise in the dark, riding or walking.

@ieverhart There is a plan to revitalize the park.

http://www.pittsburghkids.org/Templates/CMP_Level3_List.aspx?CID=621&SECID=4&MENUID=342

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Shared lane markings on Liberty Ave

MESSAGE

The bike lane markings have not been repainted since paving Liberty Ave through the Bloomfield business district.

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Missing Bus Shelter

MESSAGE

The bus shelter at 5th Ave opposite Atwood in Oakland was removed. Initially I thought it was temporary for the work UPMC was doing on the adjacent property, but work appeared to end several weeks ago, and the shelter is still gone. Waiting in the rain for the bus is no fun.

Quick turn around! Sorry, send your complaint to the black hole.

Since the Port Authority Transit system is under the jurisdiction of Allegheny County, not the City of Pittsburgh, we do not have the authority to make any changes in the bus stops or locations, nor to add or remove any accompaniments at any particular stop. This request or concern will need to be directed to Port Authority of Allegheny County, at (412) 442-2000. You may report your concern to their Customer Service Office, and ask that it be resolved.

INCIDENT ADDRESS William Penn Pl

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Illegal Parking

MESSAGE

I filed this with the police online tip form but I thought I should pass it along to 311 as well. Vehicles are being regularly parked or stopped along the west side of William Penn Pl in the morning during the hours of 7-9am when there is posted "No Parking/Stopping" signs regularly. This concerns me as a bicycle commuter who uses this street everyday as it greatly increases the chances of getting "doored" and thrown into traffic.

Incident Address

Winterburn Ave at Alger Street

Topic of Concern

pothole

Message

Pothole on Winterburn Ave just south of Alger Street. This block is full of patches and could do with repaving, but there's a particularly large hole there now.

Reported 5/29/11

==================

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

Summary of action taken:

Per DPW 3rd Div:

Completed 6/30/11

Report of completion sent 08/05/2011

So four weeks to fix the problem, five more to email back that the problem's been fixed. (I assume they fixed it. Have to check next time I go that way. I know the block was still in awful shape last time I went that way.)

The potholes have potholes on that road. I can't tell what is a hole and what is valley between patches. The parking lane is the only part of the road that is remotely flat.

I made a complaint to repaint shared lane markings along Penn Avenue through the Strip. Looks like it's in the works.

INCIDENT ADDRESS Penn & 16th

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Abandoned Vehicle

MESSAGE

There is an abandoned vehicle at Penn Ave & 16th St, inbound in the right lane. It has been there since last week.

Well, I am 0-for-life in getting my 311's resolved, but we'll see...

YOUR TOPIC

missing crosswalks on beechwood blvd

YOUR COMMENT

I noticed some of the lines and crosswalks on the newly repaved section of Beechwood were painted last week, but the two crosswalks between 5th and Wilkins (near Hastings and Lyndhurst Green) are still missing.

Replies

311 Response Center Web Form reply: 08/30/2011 @ 2:40 pm

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID number associated with this request is 256042.

Thank you for contacting our 311 Response Center!

Hey!!! I finally won one! It's not at all bike-related, but - w00t! Maybe this is all due to my alter-ego, the walker!

Called the other about a drain with crumbling concrete around it at penn/13th, and mentioned that all of penn ave between 11th-16th could use some love before winter hits, specifically the outbound lane.

I feel that I should probably follow up on that, I've reported that area multpiple times before, and all that came of it was some quick patchwork which was gone in a few months.

I wonder if anyone has had the same issue I have with overflow parking at the casino on the north shore protruding onto the bike trail? I ran into this friday night on my commute home from work and it was so bad that I almost crashed going off the asphalt into a mud and rocks bog on my skinny tires. If cars were parked like this on the street, they'd be keyed, rammed, ticketed, booted, and removed. I'm not sure why this is acceptable for the casino other than the fact that there are very few of us that rely on this stretch of trail daily.

Did you report it to 311?

INCIDENT ADDRESS: Panther Hollow Trail from Boundary Street to Greenfield Avenue

TOPIC OF CONCERN: Overgrowth - Public Property

MESSAGE:

The section of Panther Hollow Trail from the parking lot on Boundary Street to the underpass at Greenfield Ave is overgrown by plants in several spots, especially along Saline Street. It is also littered with plant and other debris. Also, there is a spot along this section where an access road leads up to a rail line, but the trail is littered with heavy stone aggregate from this railroad. My request is to have all overgrown plants cut back along this stretch and the trail cleared of plant and other debris including the heavy stone aggregate and then finally cleaned up to some extent of the mud/runoff on the hill edge of the trail. I think that this would be greatly appreciated by the cyclists like myself who utilize this trail as a route into Oakland on a regular basis. Thank you.

Not exactly a "bike" issue, but one that's been irking me for some time now. Come to think of it, it is a bit of a bike issue if you consider how obtrusive the Japanese Knotweed growing along places like the Junction Hollow trail or Baker Street going up to Morningside.

TOPIC OF CONCERN: Concern - issue or policy

MESSAGE:

Here is a copy of the email that I sent to Pittsburgh Public works about three weeks ago, but received no response:

"To whom it may concern: I am a lifelong Pittsburgh area resident current residing in South Oakland. I have been having growing concerns about the ever expanding banks and groves of invasive plant species such as Japanese Knotweed and Kudzu Vine. A large grove of these plants can be seen throughout the Junction Hollow Valley and around the hillsides of Oakland. These plants are truly aggressively invasive, slowly crowding out all native plant species wherever they begin to grow. Knotweed can grow in poor soil and can sprout from the smallest crevasses in sidewalks and foundations. Kudzu quickly climbs over trees and utility lines, blanketing entire areas at once. Not only are these plants merely a visual nuisance, their populations interfere with native ecosystems and negatively impact the water retention of soils where they grow.

I am not entirely sure who to voice my concerns to, so I assumed the city's department of public works was a good place to start. After some cursory research, I realize that this issue is not merely a city issue, but a large-scale regional, possibly national issue as well. I wanted to know what plans the city or other organizations might have to deal with this (literally) growing problem. Aside from conventional herbicide and cutting (the former is hazardous and the latter is relatively ineffective), I have heard that those in the UK have started combating the plants with natural biological weapons such as introducing natural (Asian) fungal and insect plant consumers that leave little to no impact on native plants.

This has been a concern of mine for some time now, so I have wanted to know if the issue is getting any consideration. Please let me know if this email would be better directed at other organizations or persons. I greatly appreciate any feedback on this issue. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Nick Grego"

As stated, I would like this to be forwarded to the relevant person or department if possible. Thank you very much for your time.

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Traffic

MESSAGE

At the start of the Liberty Ave bike lanes at both Baum Blvd and Herron Ave drivers are not staying in their lane. You can see the behavior best at Herron Ave where the left line of the bike lane is washed away from all of the cars running over it. This is a safety issue for cyclists. My suggestion is to paint a dashed line through the intersection to clarify where the lane will be.

I would like to see much more use of those plastic pylons like in Homestead, in limited specific locations. This sounds like a good place, just like a 30 foot row, at certain intersections. Suggest?

On Liberty outbound before the turn to the Bloomfield bridge. East Liberty Blvd at the start and end of the bike lanes.

A huge percentage of drivers are unable to control their car well enough to navigate the little "kink" at the bottom of beechwood without cutting through the bike lane. That probably applies to the other sharp turns on beechwood as well.

@salty:

Clearly, those folks aren't going the posted 25mph speed limit if that's the case. I know firsthand my father regular does 40mph on the stretch of Beechwood between Wilkins and Fifth.

I know firsthand almost everyone does 35-40 on that stretch considering I'm doing 25-30 and I get passed all the time. (that's uphill, of course

But, I don't think it's purely a matter of speed in that particular place - just complete incompetence and/or apathy.

They split my request into two, enforcement and painting. It looks like they repainted the outside bike lane lines on Liberty's hill but not the dotted lines as I suggested.

The problem with just repainting the lines is that it doesn't help drivers find the lane before it's too late and they are driving over top of it.

Just received a response from 311. They closed the ticket by repainting the outside line.

the signage at the bloomfield bridge is badly in need of updating to match the new plan as well. all sorts of people driving over the new outbound bike/bus lane to cut around the rest of the through-traffic still.

No sharrows yet either.

BTW I wanted to mention that this works, at least as far as clearing the storm drains goes. I'd noticed that the storm drains on Forbes Ave in Frick Park were never cleared, and thought that was just the way it was. There was an article in the P-G about this with me whining. Well, I started contacting 311 through the web site, and now they are cleared. No more trash in the bike lane and maybe it will make a difference next time there's an East End flood. So it's worthwhile.

Beware of a few deep holes in the door zone across from Phipps Conservatory (Flagstaff Hill side).

I just reported them on the 311 web form which has some SPIFFY NEW UPGRADES since I used it last, namely the ability to upload photos and to add a pinpoint to google maps.

I 311'd the dumpster halfway in the Liberty Ave bike lane (outbound) but it was gone by the time they got around to checking it a week later.

The crosswalks through the West End Circle have big (clementine-sized) rocks littered all through them, probably from where the roadway is breaking up. I just sent in my first 311 for them

Question - does it matter if you're not a city resident? Just wondering if folks have seen more/less response based on their residency. Because I'm not a city resident, but I'm in the city more than I'm at home.

came across this today:

This picture was taken at eye level with the cover:

29th st at penn ave in the strip

They now have a map where you can pinpoint the spot where the problem is on the online form.

Not really a complaint, but Maintenance responded to my 311 and will be turning on fountains next week.

INCIDENT ADDRESS Putnam St.

TOPIC OF CONCERN Parking

MESSAGE

I often see cars parking in front of the bike/ped path, and sometimes (like today) they park ON the path. This has been an ongoing problem for at least the two years I've been using this route daily. It creates a hazard for people trying to legitimately use the paths and I would like to see some "no parking" signs and enforcement here.

It looks like there were boulders placed to prevent people from driving on the path but they have been moved.

Here are some pictures: April 3: http://goo.gl/X2RBs

March 20: http://goo.gl/Fd66p http://goo.gl/HzXd8

LATITUDE 40.45526639360101 LONGITUDE -79.91623520851135

BTW, I also remembered on this path on Monday morning there were 2 black metal poles in the middle of the path, it looked like someone removed them from the adjacent fence and put them there. I stopped and tossed them into the gutter.

They were easy to spot in the daytime but might have been hard to see at night, and possibly unpleasant to hit. WTF is wrong with people?

^ I wonder if some yellow or red curb paint would be a useful deterrent to cars blocking the path?

If anyone has extra Fiks dots or other reflective scraps, a good use of them might be for poles here and there like the ones Salty mentions above.

I doubt it, considering people park right in front of the NO PARKING sign on Putnam (which might be intended to cover the whole street?). And, if you're a big enough idiot/asshole to park on the path, you're certainly not going to be deterred by paint.

There are some big boulders there that could be used to block cars from going on the path, and looks like they might have done just that at some point. I don't know how many people it would take to move them but if anyone else is not interested in doing a little guerrilla public works project I would definitely also not pitch in.

As for the poles, they were just lying in the middle of the path. Someone ripped them off the bottom of the fence and put them there intentionally. They were 6ft long pipes, basically.

April 5... same SUV as tuesday. Must be nice to have your own personal parking space and not wonder why you're the only one who parks there.

Is there anything more direct that can be done? Calling 911 seems a bit heavy-handed. Maybe someone with contacts could show this to the mayor or someone.

wave down a cop? I'm sure they would be very helpful.

@salty: Guerrilla 'Department of Informal Public Works' bollard installation?

Drive a steel fence post into the ground at the very end of the path, spray-paint it hazard orange, and hang a "NO PARKING" sign on the top. If you want to make it even more noticeable (and less harmful if someone hits it), slip a 6" PVC pipe covered in reflective stickers over the top.

The big rocks are already there, they just need to be (re-)placed.

You can't see them in the picture above although you can see some of them in the earlier pictures. On the left and right of the trail they're "doubled up" so I'm guessing they used to be properly spread out to prevent cars from driving up there.

Maybe I can use those poles as a lever to move them back into their proper place

I leave notes on cars like that mentioning that good parking is KEY to courtesy, with a helful little drawing of a key.

Sometimes works.

Note: I've never keyed a car.

Spitting on the driver's side door handle is also an option.

I would never recommend that to anyone though.

I do not think calling 911 is too heavy handed. Clearly state it is not an emergency, but if calls get made for that location with any frequency, the police might actually pay a visit.

Dog poop under the door handle with a note in the windshield telling them they need to reconsider their shitty parking habits.

911 seems like the best option.

I'm a big complainer... there are service requests now submitted for the following issues.

1) "Large number of potholes, including one several inches deep and about 6 inches round at intersection of center ave and penn circle west by the entrance to whole foods market."

2) "Large pothole due to recessed utility access plate is a hazard between meyran ave and atwood st on forbes ave in oakland."

3) "Several very Large potholes on main st between government way and davidson st. Mostly near government way across from the stephen foster center (Catholic youth association)."

I also entered a ticket for the big potholes near each of the pillars on the riverfront trail under the 10th st bypass onramp to the ft dusquene bridge... I'd hate to hit one of these, flat out, and barrel in to the river. Not sure if the city has jurisdiction over this chunk of cement though.

Ok, looks like the city created a service request for the trail under the 10th st bypass onramp as well.

There is always broken glass all over the trail from the convention center to the point. It is a nice route, but you should have bunny hopping skills to ride it or you might get a pinch flat.

While I didn't find a statue or or "Welcome to the Hill" sign in my travels through the Hill District (see Wheelset of Fortune thread), I did find this bike-flipper hole:

311 Response Web Form Submission Receipt

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 26182

311 Response Web Form Reply Notification

The following reply has been made to Ticket ID #26182:

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID Number associated with this request is 282850.

incident address:

Putnam St behind Schenley HS (old Reizenstein)

concern: street cleaning

A bad layer of gravel on asphalt here creates a dangerous corner for bicycles, which frequently use this key connection between Shadyside/East Liberty and the Beechwood Blvd bike lanes.

I have been bicycling for 40 years, I often commute to work in Oakland, I bicycled 360 miles to Washington DC without incident, have not fallen while bicycling once in the past ten years, but today while bicycling home after work, my tires slipped out from under me while taking this turn at a reasonable speed. The layer of gravel on asphalt caused my fall.

If this gravel is not cleaned up, others will fall, others will injure themselves, perhaps with broken bones. Repaving would help, also, because one reason I took the turn wide was to avoid bad pothole patches.

LATITUDE 40.45565416863931 LONGITUDE -79.91744756698608

incident address:

5865 Ellsworth Ave

concern: pothole

Bad pothole, about 5 inches deep, across the street from Fajita Grill on Ellsworth -- if a bicyclist hit that, it could cause them to crash.

At least patch it, please.

Better yet, repave Ellsworth completely - it's in bad shape!

thanks

@Paul you'll be happy to hear that section of Ellsworth (from Aiken to Spahr) is slated to be paved this year.

This just in:

"

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

The Service Request Identification-Number was: 282850

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

Thank you again for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

04/23/2012 03:20:27

Summary of Service-Request:

"Drilled hole, Wylie at Kirkpatrick, inbound. Hole is big enough to flip a bicycle if hit at speed, and it's on the downhill."

Summary of action taken:

The inspector needs an address to locate

"

WTF? How much more specific can I get than "Wylie at Kirkpatrick"?

I try to give something like "the northeast section of Penn at 13th" or some such thing, although a big hole in the ground shouldn't need such a specific location

OK, in their defense, the hole is not directly in the center of the intersection, it's about 100 feet towards town. Easily seen on StreetView. I will try to send them additional info.

INCIDENT ADDRESS

Biddle Ave & East End Ave

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Potholes

ticket number: 26716

MESSAGE

Very bad cluster of deep potholes right at the intersection of Biddle and East End in Regent Square. A close look at a map convinces me that this is inside Pittsburgh city limits (not Wilkinsburg or other). I have had to dodge these potholes on both bicycle and car. They're nasty! Somebody, or their car, could get hurt there!

LATITUDE 40.43714868233712 LONGITUDE -79.89537835121155

Here's an interesting article on CompStat, a statistical system and methodology for tracking problems across a city and enforcing accountability. Apparently it has helped New York City and Baltimore with crime, potholes, and other issues.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/armed-with-data-fighting-more-than-crime/

311'd parking on the bike trail on City side of the Allegheny. People seem to like to park there and fish.

I 311d the glass and overgrowth we ran into on the HPB sidewalk last night... although I have some vague recollection that needs to be reported to penndot rather than the city?

There is a lot of broken glass and other debris on the Highland Park Bridge sidewalk. Most of it is on the city side, in the vicinity of the bend. Continuing up the sidewalk along butler there are also several overgrown trees/bushes.

I got this in response to my request of 4/18 (response time: about 1 month). Can somebody verify if Ellsworth is better now?

---

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

The Service Request Identification-Number was: 283278

05/16/2012 01:17:42

Summary of Service-Request:

"Bad pothole, about 5 inches deep, across the street from Fajita Grill on Ellsworth -- if a bicyclist hit that, it could cause them to crash. At least patch it, please. Better yet, repave Ellsworth completely - it's in bad shape! thanks"

Summary of action taken: Completed 5/15/12. T. Clark, Acting Foreman

They repaved Ellsworth entirely a few days ago, from Aiken to Spahr. It's glorious.

Is it possible to 311 a traffic (turn arrow) light that is entirely too short?

I am speaking of liberty (outbound?)making a left onto baum.

Even if first in line at that light, The opposing traffic consistently has the reaction time of a NHRA dragracer creating a unavoidable game of chicken for both bikes and cars.

The problem is:

Too short of duration to allow for multiple vehicles to safely cross the intersection

No warning once in the middle of the intersection that the opposing traffic now has right of way.

In my non-professional opinion, it's almost always worth at least submitting the comment--the worst they can do is ignore it, but at least it'll be on file.

(Not sure there's anything they can do about it in this case, actually, since I'm pretty sure Baum is a state road--but it's still worth saying something.)

311 Response Web Form Submission Receipt

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 27604

...

Topic of Concern: Potholes

Message:

There are several large potholes on both sides of Millvale Ave just south of Baum Boulevard. By far the worst is just left of midline in the northbound lane, almost directly across from the front door of Chipotle--it's over a foot long, about half that wide, and several inches deep; the rebar underneath the concrete is visible at the bottom. I catch a red light nearly every time I get to that intersection, but if a cyclist hit that hole at speed, they could be flipped, possibly directly into Baum Boulevard traffic.

Latitude: 40.454245922280066

Longitude: -79.94759794324636

I went down in some gravel last night and decided to finally call this one in to 311.

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Potholes

MESSAGE

The corners of Putnam near the basketball courts have large potholes and are also lined with loose gravel which is dangerous for the many bicyclists who use this route to avoid Fifth Ave. Please fill the potholes and sweep up the gravel.

That sucks, hope you're ok... FWIW I also 311'd the broken glass on the bike path just west of there.

It would be really cool if Putnam was kept up nicely and if that bike path was made more useful (extended all the way into Bakery Square for those who aren't brave enough for Penn at rush hour but don't want to ride on the sidewalk or the weird gravel up towards Target, designed to mesh with the traffic signals better, etc.). Considering all of the nice bike parking in Bakery Square, it seems like the businesses around there could really benefit from it, too.

I've seen parents struggling to get strollers over that overgrown area and around those potholes to get to the park a couple of times recently. It really seems like that just needs to be made into a legitimate bike/ped path.

BTW, they're soon going to demolish Reizenstein, put up another office building and some housing over there, and reconfigure the streets. I don't know too many specifics but from this sketch it looks like Putnam will be reconnected, plus another street (or possibly a bike/ped path) through the middle?

http://bakery-square.com/Leasing-Brochure-1.pdf

Ohhhh. I remember seeing something vague about plans for demolishing that building but didn't realize all those changes would be involved. Hmmm. I sure hope that whatever they do makes it easier (or at least doesn't make it harder) to bike in that area while avoiding Fifth and Penn.

+1

I think this is my first unsuccessful 311.

Summary of action taken:

Property was vacated to the Board of Education in 1973

What now?

Wow, Ryan, you fell there too! That is some NASTY gravel.

See my post (above) from 4/18. I'm guessing that the reason you got a response within a day is that I filed my request last month, and nearly identical!

You can look above (in the bike-pgh forum) at the comments I submitted. Here is the edited down version of the complaint and their response that they emailed to me today. It's indicative of an avoidance of accountability, I think, that they don't put the request date (4/18) in their email. On the other hand, I'm very grateful that they have the 311 system at all.

---

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

...

Summary of Service-Request:

"A bad layer of gravel on asphalt here creates a dangerous corner for bicycles, which frequently use this key connection between Shadyside/East Liberty and the Beechwood Blvd bike lanes. I have been bicycling for 40 years, I often commute to work in Oakland, I bicycled 360 miles to Washington DC without incident, have not fallen while bicycling once in the past ten years, but today while bicycling home after work, my tires slipped out from under me while taking this turn at a reasonable speed. The layer of gravel on asphalt caused my fall. If this gravel is not cleaned up, others will fall, others will injure themselves, perhaps with broken bones"

Location: Putnam St behind Schenley HS (old Reizenstein)

Summary of action taken:

Our record department shows that Putnam Street was vacated to the Board of Education in 1973, Not a City responsibility. W. Wyant, Foreman 5/23/12

---

What we could do now - complain to the Pgh Board of Education, Schenley High School?

We should also make sure the Bakery Square people are planning for bike paths!

I posted a 311 this evening stating that vandals (in broad daylight no less) had placed 2 road work signs squarely across the bike path before and after the Greenfield - Second Avenue corner.

I do suspect these were put there by official personnel (either city or state workers) but I felt the location was very poorly chosen.

I look forward to the reply.

Ryan, Paul, et al.:

Pittsburgh Public Schools' website is http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/pps ; the facilities department is on http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/1431106208495983/site/default.asp?1431106208495983Nav=|&NodeID=5739 (what kind of awful CMS must they be using? sheeesh.)

You could contact Facilities/Plant Operations directly--the chief of Facilities is Vidyadhar Patil (412-488-4313); plant ops' phonelist is on Plant Operations phonelist--or you could call the "Parent Hotline",

the central point of contact for parents, families, and community members. Our goal is to provide assistance with general inquiries about District initiatives and address concerns in a timely manner.

If you have questions, concerns or want to provide feedback on District initiatives, please contact us by telephone (412-622-7920) or email parenthotline@pghboe.net).

It is also mentioned that the Reizenstein building is for sale--this page says that when bids were opened in October, the only one received was from Walnut Capital, but not what the outcome was. That page requests that you "direct all questions to Ira Weiss, Solicitor at (412) 391-9890 or via e-mail at iraweiss@weisslawoffices.com." If it has been sold, you may have to contact Walnut.

(As for my own 311 request, about the giant pothole in Millvale Ave in front of Chipotle, I received a terse notice that the "action" was "Completed 5/22/12" from "T. Clark, Acting Foreman", but no indication what the action was. I assume the holes were patched? I was out of town all last week and just got back last night, so I haven't been over there yet.)

On the ex-Reizenstein thing, if you contact Walnut Capital they may just decide to close it off instead of repairing it, take that into consideration.

I don't think that's likely - the Walnut Capital people are around our offices a lot and from talking to them they're very supportive of cycling. I'd say contacting them to say you ride through there a lot can only help.

From what I know of the proposed development, it will have a bike path connecting it to Shadyside but no new thru street for vehicles which is fantastic but doesn't help us now.

I contacted Bill Peduto's office last week and they are on the case. Apparently the information that the land was turned over to the school was incorrect. His office has been very responsive.

DPW just posted the paving notice for this week (PDF), which includes Morewood from Ellsworth to Forbes, East on the hill from Perrysville down to Evergreen, Bigelow from Parkman to Forbes, and "Steuben Street from Chartiers Avenue to Forbes Avenue". I am trying to get them to clarify which intersection of Parkman and Bigelow they mean--they intersect twice--but I leave it to someone else to figure out which intersection of Steuben and Forbes they're referring to (I know of none at all).

I 331ed to askfor parking enforcement in the new bike lane on Neville as it continues north from Ellsworth.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/doit/apps/citizensconnect.asp -- should we have something similar in PGH?

we did:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/iburgh-lets-you-complain-to-city-by-cell-phone-353957/

i understand some political pissing contest got this app pulled but that is hearsay (YMMV HTH HAND FOMF)

it appears iBurgh turned into this, which seems to have lost all of its momentum a while ago:

https://twitter.com/#!/cityzenmobile

this might work well enough from a mobile phone, though i havent tried:

http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/311/form/

Thanks! i missed it completely.

One the feature of Boston app is that it uses internal accelerometer and measures "the bump" quality and it uses GPS to get coordinates.

And Boston has for iPhone and Androids.

PS found iBurgh for androids too -- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yinzcam.iburgh&hl=en

from the comments at your link :'(

Mark - November 11, 2010 - Motorola Droid X with version 1.0

The city is not responding to complaints left through this app anymore. Even when an email address was given, no response from 311. Don't bother.

i checked the city's 311 page on my slightly dated droid and it was sluggish. the map control isnt super easy to use on the phone and it doesnt tie into gps, but it works. itd also be nice if it remembered your contact info.

if someone wanted to, im sure its just a simple matter of programming to create an app that posts to pittsburghpa.gov/311/form and solves those problems.

(also available one click away from tinyurl.com/pgh311 if you need help remembering)

To preface, I received a typed message in my mailbox from a neighbor and this is my contribution...

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Street Paving Request

Firstly, thank you for fixing the few steps I've called for repair and for eliminating the yellow jackets from the stair railing in front of my house. Concerns with paving Saint Joseph Way and a short adjacent segment of Saint Thomas Street are afoot, as many streets nearby are receiving due care. I'm 311'ing to suggest that perhaps microsurfacing or a seal coat is more appropriate for rehabilitating our abraded asphalt pavement, than a 2 inch mill and overlay. I've removed some areas of loose bitumen and aggregate that has washed down from Saint Thomas and deposited in well-trodden humps along Saint Joseph, however, more areas will require heavy brushing and a skid steer with a sharp bucket to remove the remainder. After a good cleaning, I believe you would find that the existing pavement is free of any potholing or alligator cracking, and is well prepared for a more cost-efficient microsurface. Regards.

Wow, like a tweed 311 request.

Putnam St got patched today, as did the entrance to the trail from Putnam. Cool.

311'd

-The Forbes Ave bike lanes near Frick Park and the Cemetery are full of tree debris and a bloated groundhog carcass following last night's storm. Please sweep when you are able.

-Thank you for all the paving you have been doing this summer and kudos to all your men and women who are working outdoors despite the heat!

Not 311, but I just sent an email to rivers casino. The bike racks near their main entrance appeared not be bolted to the ground.

These had open ends and you could easily pick up the post and free a bike locked with a u-lock. I'm not willing to gamble with my bike security by leaving it parked there.

311'd people parking in the bike lane again on millvale near entrance to west penn hospital's ER.

There is someone parking there between 2-4 times a week on my way to work in the morning. It's generally different people every time. Often they are just sitting in their car.

@Benzo - I noticed the same thing with those Casino bike racks. I locked up down the trail near the Science Center and walked to the Casino.

Submitted May 7 2012 (ticket 27100):

Please install a convex mirror on the Eliza Furnace bike trail connector at the corner of Second Avenue and Swinburne, where the concrete barriers require a very tight turn with no visibility. Despite the "please walk bikes" signage, many people ride that stretch, and a convex mirror to see around the corner would make it safer for all.

Response July 13 2012 (two months later):

Summary of action taken:

WE DO NOT HAVE CONVEX MIRRORS -- R. CALABRESE 7/12/12

Well thanks, R. Calabrese! I can certainly see why that took two months.

Maybe I should resubmit, but change "install" to "purchase and install". Apparently that part was unclear.

R. Calabrese has sent me some real gems too. Always all-caps, always... less than helpful.

I've 311ed that too. I wonder who else could be contacted to get something done about it.

When those workshops were going on a couple months ago on the south side, I stressed that "connection" as the biggest cycling embarrassment in the entire city. I still remember the first time I used it, thinking I must be going the wrong way... but unfortunately not.

I think it's even more important because a lot of casual cyclists end up there. One day I was down there on the Greenfield side and there was a guy and his young daughter trying to figure out where to go. I tried to explain it to him but I could see all the enthusiasm leaving his eyes and I felt like I had to apologize for how terrible it is.

Not only is an embarrassment, it's downright dangerous. When I am in Pittsburgh and ride that, I admit that I'm as guilty as a lot of other people and I don't walk it. I just hope and pray no one's coming and go. Even if walked it, I don't know there is enough room to get two bikes past each other.

The turn at Swinburne is the worst. At least on the Greenfield side it curves and you've got a slighty better sight clearance. For the short diatance you would be on 2nd Ave, I think it would be safer except maybe during peak traffic hours.

If I were there by myself, I'd do that or just jump the tracks. But I'm usually there with friends who don't want to do either.

I'd never thought of the convex mirror. Seems to me to be a cheap and easy solution that woold make it better than it is right now. And they can't do this? (Maybe there is a reason they can't that isn't apparent.) Maybe having Steve Patchen and Scott/BikePGH having a chat with TPTB would help?

I always ride on the road going in the Schenley-to-Jail Trail direction now, but I don't usually take the road in the other direction unless I'm with other people. Making all those left-hand turns makes me nervous.

I agree that it really is dangerous. I just ride through at walking pace and make a whole bunch of noise to announce my presence as I go around the corners (new bike doesn't have a bell, but it does have cantis that will squeal on demand) and hope for the best.

Hah... you can get a convex mirror on Amazon for like $25-30. There's an opportunity for some benevolent vandalism here.

@pearmask -- haha. I never thought of vandlaisn as being benevolent. New concept here. I like it.

This one was driving me a little crazy for awhile.

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

Thank you again for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

07/16/2012 12:59:23

Summary of Service-Request:

"There is a "pedestrians" sign that is leftover from either the marathon or a construction project on Penn Ave near the Harp and Fiddle. Please remove."

Location: 2329 Penn

Summary of action taken:

Sign has been removed 7/16/12.

Today's request. I'll report back, but it looks like someone drove down Noblestown and smashed dishes the entire way down. Weird and sucky.

============

This is to acknowledge that the City of Pittsburgh has entered your Service Request.

The Service Request ID is:297448

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

We will inform you when this request has been completed.

Thank you for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

07/16/2012 12:28:12

Summary of Service-Request:

"Please sweep the downhill (inbound) side of Noblestown Rd between Weaver St and S. Main St. There is a great deal of broken ceramic along the shoulder, plus glass and what appears to be broken mirrors. The uphill (outbound) side was swept late last week, but the downhill side is very dangerous for bikes. Thanks!"

Anybody know the best way to get people to stop parking on the trail in Mellon Park when there are perfectly good parking spots open in the parking lot? It's like that at least 50% of the time that I come through here in the evenings - totally blocked by cars parked on it (multiple today) or at the entrance. Multiple 311 requests and one non-emergency 911 call produced nothing. Last time before today, the people blocking it also proceeded to mock me pretty obnoxiously for having to awkwardly work my way around them. I know it's dumb to be this worked up about it, but it's driving me absolutely insane.

@pearmask

I've put note on cars in my neighborhood about cars doing offensive stuff.

I write the note as politely as I can.

I end the note with the phrase:

"It's KEY to being a good neighbor"

I put a little drawing of a key at the bottom. Drivers straighten right up.

For the record: I have never deliberately damaged anyone's car. I have no intention of ever doing so.

OTOH, they are the one with thousands of dollars of property in a vulnerable position.

At the risk of sounding sexist - this might be more effective using a masculine, crudely printed note, not a frilly feminine cursive.

Won't you be my neighbor?

pearmask, you know my feelings on that situation already. BTW a couple weeks ago some guy got out of his truck to yell at me after I weaved around his giant SUV because I "gave him a funny look". Well, I certainly don't dispute doing that. I tried to have a civil conversation with him, semi successfully. It was one of those things where we were yelling at each other but it didn't devolve into name calling or profanity (I think the guy's kid was in the truck). I told him I would appreciate it if he didn't park there, and I guess I had some hope it might help - but if anything it has gotten even worse.

I'd like to think our 311s led to those new signs about no vehicles on the trail that adorn 4 of the 5 entrances - although it bugs me that they don't explicitly allow bicycles. and, of course they did nothing to fix the real problem.

The other day there were two SUVs parked near the picnic groves, one with the stereo blasting. Almost as obnoxious as those new signs. Even if they installed bollards people will just drive on the grass to get to where they want to go. This is why we can't have nice things.

Yeah, Mick, I tried writing notes for a while, some of which were nicer than others. (And while they were written by a female, "crudely printed" was still a fair description.)

This new crop of on-the-trail parkers has included a lot of people who are very intentionally parking there so they can tailgate their kids' sports practices or games or whatever. There are always a billion of them in lawn chairs surrounding the car(s) right there at the end that connects to Putnam. They must know this is obnoxious, but they also know that they have everyone else outnumbered and that no one is going to do anything about it. They probably get some amusement from watching me mutter under my breath every time I have to stop and get off my bike to get through there.

I recognize that having to walk my bike across the grass for 2 feet is not a real hardship, so I have no idea why this pisses me off so much, but it does.

Today I got some redemption, though. The trail was blocked from both ends: car on Putnam end of trail, car parked across the exit from the trail on the parking lot end. As I was passing by, the dude in the parking lot was getting in his car, and he fumbled with his keys, turned the car on, etc... Except his reward for parking on top of the slanty no-parking lines was that he had let himself get boxed in from all 4 sides (curb in front, curb/rocks to the right, car parallel to his on the left, car perpendicular to his behind him), which he had apparently not foreseen. So he just sat there looking totally baffled. No idea what he ended up doing, but I'm guessing he got to sit there and wait for someone else to move, meaning he had some time to really think about his parking decisions.

+1

They are in the way to be seen. It's the same with the walking in the street culture. They could easily move their chairs a foot off of the concrete trail but don't because they want you to see them and go around them.

> a couple weeks ago some guy got out of his truck to yell at me after I weaved around his giant SUV because I "gave him a funny look".

Last week while riding to work through west Bloomfield, some guy in a white Jeep Liberty gave me a nasty look because he couldn't cut the corner quite as tightly as he wanted while making a left turn, then muttered (in a southern drawl almost dripping with bourbon) "Homo".

He kept going, and it actually took me a moment to decipher what he'd said, so it was a pretty short interaction...

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Overgrowth - Public Property

MESSAGE

The outbound bike lane on Forbes Ave between S Dallas and Braddock Ave has a number of low hanging tree branches that create a hazard for cyclists using the bike lane. Please trim the low hanging branches.

Nice shot from my new camera:

311d (again):

People parking in a way that blocks access to the trail is a continuing problem here, and if anything it has been getting worse. There are a lot of cyclists and pedestrians that rely on these trails for commuting, and navigating around these cars (which are often double parked or otherwise parked illegally) is hazardous. I am usually able to go around them by going through the grass and jumping the curb, but wheelchair users may not have that option.

On a few occasions I have politely asked the people parking there (note, it is not the same group of people every time) to stop, but that is often met with hostility.

Please mark this area as "no parking" and add some enforcement. There are literally miles of free parking nearby on Beechwood Blvd. and there is absolutely no reason that people cannot park there legally rather than packing this lot full of cars and creating a hazardous environment for all involved.

"Please re-paint the "sharrow" markings on Penn Ave in the Strip Ditrict. They've been faded from approximately 28th St-16th St for quite some time now. On the stretch of about 24th-16th, they're almost not visible at all.

Sharrows make the road safer for bicyclists who use this route to commute, but when they're faded, motorists don't know to expect them there. These fade every year, so if it were possible to reinstall them using thermoplastic material instead of paint, I feel that it would increase safety of all road users, and also save the city money in the long run (since they won't need to be repainted every year)"

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Other

MESSAGE

Since being paved the shared lane markings on Hamilton and Friendship haven't been repainted.

I think some are missing from Ellsworth

http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/311/form/

In response to 311 tickets about vehicles parking in bike lanes on millvale around west penn hospital. It appears that several people have put in tickets with respect to this issue.

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

The Service Request Identification-Number was: 294495

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

Thank you again for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

07/31/2012 10:47:31

Summary of Service-Request:

7-31-12 "Hello, I am writing in reference to an issue I have observed countless times over the course of the summer. I have seen people parking in the biking lanes, particularly in front of West Penn hospital near the dropoff turnaround area. I know this is a high traffic location for visitors to the hospital, but they have a turnaround area for this purpose. Most of the time when there are cars parked in the bike lane, there is no one in the turnaround. They are always parked in an area where the curb is painted yellow and there are no parking signs posted. I wasn't sure if it was the hospital's job or the city's job to enforce this no parking policy, but it has become dangerous for my work commute because I ride this way daily. Many of the cars are contractors who park here many hours during the day, and could reasonably park in the garage or in the loading dock when it is not otherwise occupied. I have seen other bicyclists endangered by this situation as well. Thank you."

6-28-12 "This morning 2 cars were blocking bike lane and another vehicle was parked immediately after the end of bike lane on millvale ave between friendship ave and liberty ave at 7:50am."

"At 7:45am every morning this week there has been a vehicle parked in the bike lane in front of west penn hospital on millvale ave. Often with a driver still in the vehicle. It did not appear to be the same vehicle each time. Several days this week there were also additional service vehicles parked on the bicycle sharrow markings past the loading bays at west penn hospital immediately past the bike lane's end. Both of these are on millvale ave between friendship ave and liberty ave."

Summary of action taken:

Officer assigned. Citation will be issued for illegal parking.

I 311'd the Penn Avenue issue earlier today, as well as an uneven pavement situation on McClure, near Antrim. Coming down McClure to Woods Run and the trail there are some new service connection cutouts that the developer patched really badly. It looks like someone put something heavy on the patch when it was soft. It reminds me of the knee divots I make when I weed the garden. Hard to see, and with the inbound traffic coming downhill, it can be a real surprise. It could easily throw a cyclist.

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 30543

I'm corresponding with the Mayor's Office after reading an article about another accident where a cyclist was seriously injured on Penn Avenue. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/bicyclist-critical-after-point-breeze-accident-647004/ Six days ago, James Price was killed by a hit and run driver on the same stretch of road. The design of Penn Avenue on that section encourages drivers to operate their vehicles at unsafe speeds. I would ask the Mayor's office to pursue possible changes to encourage traffic calming in that area by redesigning that section of Penn Avenue and increasing police enforcement of the posted speed limits. Please make this a priority in regards to improving the safety and infrastructure of this area.

Latitude 40.4465714814638 Longitude -79.89355444908142

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 30561

Please make redesigning and repainting Penn Avenue from Fifth Ave through North Braddock Ave a priority. Two cyclists have been hit there in just the past week; how many tombstones is it going to take before the city does something about it?

Drivers need to be slowed down to the posted speed limit of 35 mph; in the short term, increased enforcement by police with radar guns might help, but in the long term, we need a street that doesn't function as a highway with 4 lanes. Perhaps a 2-lane road with bike lanes and a middle turning lane would be more appropriate to the neighborhood. If not that, at least lights that are timed to roughly match the speed limit through that neighborhood, to reduce the rate of people speeding through at night from 20:00-07:00 (sunset-sunrise). I would appreciate a response on this regarding the planned course of action.

Sent a more general message, trying to convey urgency:

Hi,

I'm am increasingly alarmed and concerned about driver behavior all over the city. Every day I see people driving dangerously, disobeying speed limits, running red lights, neglecting to use a turn signal when changing lanes/turning, neglecting to yield to the right of way, using their cell phone to talk, or even worse, text, and blatantly running stop signs.

What's even worse is driver attitude. Road rage is a huge problem and is horribly dangerous. When I'm with someone driving the speed limit on any road, the people in the vehicles behind us consistently act irrationally, either by tailgating, honking, making obscene gestures, or attempting to illegally (and unsafely) pass.

I think this can be seen in the three accidents in Wilkinsburg/Swissvale this week. Two people are dead because of this driver apathy and inattentiveness. Not to mention, two of the people responsible LEFT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. Hit-and-run offenders are despicable people, but if they'd been paying attention and driving more slowly, it's very, very likely that these needless deaths wouldn't have occurred. No one should die on the road.

Please start enforcing ALL traffic laws, all over the city, Focus on dangerous areas (such as the stretch of Penn Ave in Point Breeze where two of the accidents are located), but know that this is a problem that I encounter EVERYWHERE.

This needs to stop.

Thanks.

"We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID Number associated with this request is 299836."

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request.

The Service Request Identification-Number was: 301701

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

Thank you again for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

08/14/2012 10:01:52

Summary of Service-Request:

"The pavement at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Broad Street is atrocious. Where the slabs meet, epic cracks have developed. This is a heavily-trafficked area and poses a threat to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. This particular intersection is exceptionally bad but this style of pavement throughout East Liberty is in similar states of disrepair. There is obviously a need for a comprehensive fix here but in the meantime I hope there could be a short-term solution to this and the other locations suffering from acute problems."

Summary of action taken:

The Paving Division will evaluate the requested street.

John Klinger

Hello,

Please paint pedestrian crosswalks and replace the "yield to pedestrians" sign (which appears to have been run over several times) on Liberty Ave at Mathilda St in Bloomfield. Vehicular traffic, including PAT buses, regularly neglect to yield to the pedestrian right of way, and are routinely aggressive if a pedestrian happens to be crossing the street and causes them to lose a couple seconds from their commute.

Another great option at this intersection would be to install a pedestrian-activated traffic light (such as the one on Penn Ave at 17th street in the strip district).

Whatever happens, It would be great if it were safer to cross the street here.

Thanks!

whoa, there's a light at penn & 17th now? i guess i haven't been down there in a while

(not a 311, but I have 911'ed people parking in the bike lane on Neville twice this week. Also, I put in a request for the ShurSave in Bloomfield to put in some bike parking...)

Two from me today:

=============

311 Response Web Form Submission Receipt

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 31214

The pedestrian/bike path in the West End Circle (under the ramp between Steuben St and Main St) is very overgrown. Last year, some weeds were trimmed but then were thrown directly on the path. The path is now becoming impassible without pushing weeds aside.

LATITUDE 40.442768634628884 LONGITUDE -80.0309331715107

=============

311 Response Web Form Submission Receipt

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 31215

The walkway on the northbound side of the West End Bridge is coated in broken glass. Is it possible for this to be swept? Yesterday I ended up with a piece of mirror in my sandal - this is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.

LATITUDE 40.44490993126659 LONGITUDE -80.02767026424408

whoa, there's a light at penn & 17th now? i guess i haven't been down there in a while

WOAH. I totally meant Liberty and 17th. Whoops. Hopefully they don't make Liberty/Mathilda look like Penn/17th. Haha.

I just 311'd (via computer submission) the construction plate on Liberty at 40th, specifically that it needs a blob of asphalt so as to not cause flats.

crosswalk is painted at liberty/mathilda.

beat-up "yield to peds" sign is still there, though

MESSAGE

Either complete the bike route or remove the shared lane marking on Millvale in between Baum and Centre outside of Pep Boys. The sharrow leads cyclists directly into parked cars.

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Sign - Replacement

MESSAGE

Please repaint the bike lanes on both sides of Beechwood from Wilkins to Northumberland. The lines and bike symbols have washed off almost completely.

@erica

How do they record 3-1-1 calls. Is there much of a chance that a bunch of people calling 3-1-1 to ask police to enforce speeding laws would have an effect?

I mean, if the end of the year report said "1/2 % of calls were asking police to enforce posted speed limits" would that cause an uptick in enforcement?

(um ... an "uptick in enformcent" could be reasonably described as "ANY enforcement".)

I wonder if it would be better to be specific "On Forbes, east of the exit from the parkway to oakland, the speed limit is posted at 25 mph, but most drivers violate that limit. Many drivers are going faster than 50 mph as they pass the sign. Some are much faster and it isn't rare for drivers to exceed 70 mph there."

This is getting fun:

Hi there, According to my email, my previous request about sweeping the walkway on the West End Bridge was completed last week (The Service Request Identification-Number was: 302979). But there is still a great deal of broken glass on this walkway, as you can see from the image I'm attaching. This is very unsafe.

*************

Here's the image I uploaded:

Ohhhh, you mean THAT glass...

Ha I know! It's *everywhere* up there.

OK so now I got this. Now what? And why is it OK for them to just close it and pretend like they took care of it the first time?

Ideas?

==================

As Per Public Works: "REFER TO PENN DOT; STATE MAINTAINED BRIDGE. -- J. MCCLORY 8/17/12"

Please contact Penndot to have this area cleaned up.

Thank you for contacting the 311 Response Line.

Call 800-FIX-ROAD to get the local PennDOT maintenance district.

As for your other question, I'd be tempted to actually call them up and ask for a supervisor & ask them directly. They may even be able to look up which operator closed your ticket.

Awesome, thank you. I will try to follow up on this next week. It's been bad like that for at least the entire summer.

TOPIC OF CONCERN

Street Cleaning

MESSAGE

There is broken glass on the bike path parallel to Penn Ave near Putnam St., slightly to the west (towards ELB). I reported a similar incident a few months ago and as far as I can tell the glass was never cleaned up, after about a month the rain washed it away. I hope it will receive more prompt attention this time.

LATITUDE 40.45612765933558 LONGITUDE -79.91573095321655

^spam

I used the 311 system a slightly different way a few days ago. The pothole crew had patched a nasty hole in the middle of northbound Grant St at Forbes last Thursday, but in so doing, left a small sledgehammer on the side of the pavement. I saw it there on my way to take the hopscotch pic at lunch time, and it was still there at 6:30 when I left work. So I took it, bungeed it to the bike, and 311'd (via web form) that I'd like to get it back to them. Sure enough, a couple days later my phone rang, and in short order, they had their hammer back.

I'm just going to buy a mini, 4 foot broom, and use the velcro straps I got from pearmask a while back to strap it to my top tube. I'm never in such a hurry that I can't stop and sweep a bit of glass or something to the side. It'd be quicker than 311ing it, and for one broken bottle on the side of penn ave, 311 seems a little superfluous.

The broken glass is not "on the side of Penn Ave", it is right on the bike path. Like last time, it will probably lie there until it covers the whole width and after a month or so the rain will wash it into the grass. It's not so much one isolated incident as much as there is broken glass all over the place and it never gets cleaned up. Maybe submitting 311s isn't going to help that, but I can guarantee that not submitting 311s isn't. Or, to put it another way, maybe if enough people 311 about stuff like this, the city will realize they need a strategy to deal with it.

ticket number: 32624

Please repave South Bellefield Avenue, or at least re-patch the left lane. The road is bumpy and unpleasant for cars, but as a biker I find this segment often dangerous. As a cyclist I am forced to ride more slowly than I normally would to pick my way through the pavement; drivers ordinarily averse to moving over to give a cyclist enough passing room are even more loath to switch to a lane full of potholes and crevices.

ticket number: 32627

Please consider adding a traffic signal or pedestrian crossing signal at Fillmore St, perhaps similar to the one at Liberty and 17th, another intersection with a signal where a major road crosses the head of a one-way street. Pitt has classes in Bellefield Hall, at Bellefield and Fillmore, as well as a gymnasium, so there are waves of pedestrians attempting to cross here at various points in the day, as well as the usual traffic. Even when vehicles in one lane stop for pedestrians, those in the other often do not; the delivery and service vehicles often double parked in front of both Bellefield Hall and the School Board building also make it difficult to determine when it is safe to cross or when it is safe for cyclists to enter the road.

inspired by Ahlir's post

ticket number: 32820

Please add a traffic signal at North Shore Dr and Tony Dorsett Dr., at the base of the Fort Duquesne Bridge bike/pedestrian ramp. It can be very difficult to get across NSD when there is any appreciable amount of traffic, especially when there are large trucks parked in front of the office buildings just west of the intersection.

The following reply has been made to Ticket ID #32820:

We have notified the appropriate personnel about this issue. The Service Request ID Number associated with this request is 307637.

This is to acknowledge that the City of Pittsburgh has entered your Service Request.

The Service Request ID is:307637

If you need to contact the city again concerning this issue, please refer to that number.

We will inform you when this request has been completed.

Thank you for allowing the City of Pittsburgh to serve you.

I'll believe it when I see it, but, um, that was fast...

"notified the appropriate personnel" just means they forwarded it to public works, not that they're necessarily going to do anything about it.

FWIW, i got an email last week saying that they cleaned up the glass on the bike path even though it was pittsburgh public schools property and not city property, so i wouldn't count on them doing it again. that is one problem with 311, it really should be a "one stop shop" that gets routed to whatever agency is responsible (PPS, county, penndot, etc.) since it's not always obvious to citizens and just a PITA in general.

Also, I have to admit Erica's post still bugs me. The idea of this thread was to make sure 311 is aware of issues that affect cyclists, and broken glass is certainly such an issue. Plus, there's a certain noted "bike-friendly" city in the US that lists "broken glass" as one of two examples of problems to report right on their bike/ped map.

yeah, i forgot to post the replies (though I did forward the NSD one to the North Side Ped/Bike Committee):

RE Bellefield pavement:

"The Paving Division will evaluate the requested street.

John Klinger"

RE Bellefield crossing:

"Adequate gaps exist in traffic for pedestrians to cross the street. A traffic signal is not warranted.

A. Purcell"

RE North Shore Drive:

"Vehicular and pedestrian volumes do not warrant a traffic signal at this location.

A. Purcell"

Along the Panther Hollow trail someone scattered some small rocks the other day on the trail next to the soccer field. I avoided them just fine until this morning when a combination of distractied riding and a really worn tire contributd to my hitting one and getting a flat. Not worth sending out a city truck- I will move them myself when I head home in a bit.

Some things we can fix ourselves.

Urg, filed this complaint on the PAT web site this morning.

----

While riding my bicycle inbound this morning on Forbes Ave just East of the intersection at Dallas, I was buzzed very closely (less than 2 feet) by the driver of inbound 61A bus#3210 at approx 8:45am. He/she may have been trying to make it through the yelllow light, but then pulled over on the far side of the intersection to accommodate a pedestrian who was running late for the bus. It would have been much safer for me, the cyclist, and for the pedestrian, if the bus driver had just waited an extra moment or two at the proper bus stop adjacent to the traffic light. In any case, please inform your driver of the new 4' passing laws and to keep mirror clearance in mind. Thank you.

Just 311'd the sewer grate just west of the Walgreens on Penn Circle S. It has been held open by a rock for a long time now. Makes a bike-tire-sized longitudinal opening.

Convinced no one does anything with these requests however I filed 2 in the past 2 weeks. One for individuals parking as if they are blind (parking at the curb cut) and the second for the morons who continually park on the bike path near the 10th Street bypass to fish.

I posted one about the overall situation with the tiny piece of Beacon connecting over from Hobart and before you get into squirrel hill. Not one thing so much as a combination:

"

The most dangerous part of my bike commute is also right by my home. The tiny little stretch of beacon before you get to homes after Hobart has very high speed driving, no bike lane or shoulder, no sharrows, and subpar pavement quality making acquiring/keeping good speed in a bike unnecessarily hard and adding a slight, but further increase the relative velocity and hence danger. Something, or preferably multiple things, in this unfortunate combination have to change or there will be an incident... as is I've just been buzzed but it was a scary experience. The speed of the driving here also is a safety issue for pedestrians even if they're just trying to cross the field to get to Bartlett playground, etc. Some cars and especially some motorcycles come up Beacon into squirrel hill so fast that you can start crossing the street at normal speed and have to run back to the curb not to get killed.

"

Ticket number 34892.

I think once you're comfortably in 5 digits for tickets you can pretty well tell nothing is going to happen.

My 311 message this morning was a road killed deer thrown from the Parkway East onto the Eliza Furnace Trail just inbound from the trail entrance on Second Avenue.

ew!

I saw it this morning- I thought that if it was still warm, that was a lot of venison going to waste. I hope it is still there tomorrow morning- I need an antler for a small project I want to do. I will bring a saw just in case.

Sorry. It was gone by the end of the day.

We just published an analysis of the past six years of 311 pothole complaints; the full story (with graphics, maps, etc.) is here: http://publicsource.org/investigations/potholes-health-indicators-of-city-streets

Not a complaint, but likely important for the City to hear support, now and again.

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 35807

I just read about and wanted to voice approval of the Mayor's Downtown Action Strategy Plan, specifically the aspects involving what look to be progressive and innovating thinking regarding street infrastructure. The initial "visioning" aspects looking at the feasibility of installing bike and pedestrian friendly infrastructure (Forbes and Smithfield) to expand the positive developments in Market Square can only assist in the revitalization of our downtown. Increasing bikeability/walkability of that corridor between Market Square and the Cultural District can only encourage the development of additional small business and services to support the increasing number of people who see living downtown as a viable option. Please continue your collaborative work with Bike Pittsburgh and other forward thinking organization s to move our city in the right direction regarding livability. http://bike-pgh.org/blog/2012/11/19/mayors-plan-to-attract-retain-downtown-retail-include-bike-lanes-on-smithfield-st-and-forbes-ave/

Your submission has been assigned ticket number: 35727

Just read about the latest pedestrian/vehicle accident on South Braddock Ave. in Regent Square. http://www.wtae.com/news/local/allegheny/Latest-vehicle-pedestrian-crash-puts-Regent-Square-safety-at-forefront/-/10927008/17408504/-/item/0/-/8xad6ez/-/index.html Has the city considered the installation of crossing flags?

http://www.nbcchicago.com/traffic/transit/chicago-flag-pedestrian-safety-35344543.html I've seen them in Chicago, and in Indian Rocks, Florida and have heard that they've been implemented in Seattle to attempt to decrease the incidents of vehicles striking pedestrians.

Dammit, I couldn't resist commenting on the article about the pedestrian in Regent Sq. Personally I think driver behavior towards pedestrians is much worse than towards bicyclists, and it completely disgusts me. Yet, this guy starts making up any reason he can think of why the little old lady deserved to get run down, without even a hint that the driver did anything wrong.

I think Braddock should have raised speed-humps for cross walks. This wont stop all a-hole drivers from trying to run you down, but it will stop most of them. Plus it will drastically slow everything down & might persuade some to take another "short cut" all together.

The guy Salty complains about is a bit jerky (well, more than a bit), but he has a point - that crosswalk at Braddocik and biddle would probalbly be best served by a button triggered red light.

It'd be expensive, but right now it has huge lights pointing out the crosswalk and it's still nto very safe.

Another light would also discourage shortcutters from that route, too.

When I got buzzed by a bus on Forbes Ave near CMU, last month, I went to http://www.portauthority.org/paac/CompanyInfoProjects/CustomerService/Feedback.aspx and clicked on "Complaints Form" and wrote:

---

I was bicycling on Forbes Ave near Beeler, headed toward Morewood,

[November 5, 11:29am] when a 61D bus (bus number 3245) came within 2 or 3 feet of me as it

passed me. By PA law the bus driver must give cyclists at least 4

feet of clearance. I was in the right lane, bicycling 2 feet from the

curb and there were NO other vehicles on that section of Forbes in

either direction, and the road has 4 lanes there and no parking, and

we were 2 long blocks from Morewood, so the only reasons I can think

of for the bus to come that close to me are either a) the driver

didn't see me (in my bright blue puffy jacket), or more likely b) he

wanted to buzz me, perhaps to "put me in my place" for some reason?

In either case your driver was breaking the law.

Please punish this driver appropriately.

---

I have no evidence that complaints to PAT do anything. I emailed the complaint to my Allegheny County Council representative, Charles Martoni, also, but I got no response to that.

Sent to 311 web site:

---

Street sweepers need to clean all the way to the gutter.

While bicycling inbound on Forbes Ave between Braddock Ave & Dallas on Wednesday morning (12/12) I noticed that a street sweeper had been through recently. I could tell by the wet stripes on the asphalt. The rightmost stripe was in the middle of the 3 foot wide bike lane. I could tell by the wet stripes and by debris (rocks, chunks of wood, gravel, sticks) in the right half of the bike lane that the street sweeper hadn't cleaned all the way to the gutter.

Please tell your street sweepers to clean all the way to the gutter. It's especially important when there is a critical bike lane, such as here.

When debris is left in bike lanes, it forces cyclists to veer left, closer to cars, trucks, and buses, to avoid junk in their lane.

Thanks.

PS: The bike lanes on Forbes Ave are great, as far as a they go, and when they are kept clean.

last week's Flock rides had issues with a 75 and a 61B getting too close to us, too. Did anyone manage to retain the vehicle numbers long enough to contact PAT? (Marko? Terry?)

I'd particularly like to get the 75 driver (3563?) reported, since he not only pulled up within a couple feet of bikers at multiple intersections, but then refused to identify himself and went so far as to hold a schedule folder up in front of his face when someone attempted to take a picture of him...

@wpahsnews is there something wrong with the loading docks at West Penn?

— @infinitebuffalo, December 18, 2012

@wpahsnews in all seriousness, please remind your delivery drivers, visitors, etc that it is illegal to park in the bike lane on Millvale.

—@infinitebuffalo, December 18, 2012

(... not to mention anywhere else that's copiously signed NO PARKING, but whatever...)

@buffalo... please contact the Port Authority directly about that. Don't call 311. If you like you can even email Steve Bland, their CEO. sbland at portauthority.org. He welcomed emails fromt the bike community years ago and typically he responds.

scott, it looks like while I was drafting the above message, someone else was posting about the incident to the December Flock thread.

"Within 24 hours of the ending of last week's snow, crews plowed the Eliza Furnace Trail. They neglected to plow from the County Jail to PNC Firstside but what they did do was appreciated.

However, we received an additional 4 inches of snow on Friday night to Saturday morning and when the crews plowed the trail after that snowfall they only plowed between the Swinburne Street lot and the Birmingham Bridge, leaving the rest of the mile and a half of trail into town to become a frozen and hazardous moonscape of ice and snow."

I sent a notice about this also- and pointed out that the pedestrian bridge to the north shore is fully clear.

Maybe we need to say some steeler fans use the jail trail.

I just read on Twitter that the HMB and South Side Trails are still pretty bad and EFT hasn't been salted yet even though it's been plowed.

Any other updates to these?

HMB and EFT around HMB have been plowed and salted. I was cleaning ramps when they did it.

Has anyone else sent a 311 about Panther Hollow? I have not yet, but will today.

Thank you for reporting that, helen s. I focused my 311 on the icy steps under the West End Bridge that lead from W. Carson to the West End Circle.

Interestingly, I have 311'd 3 times this past week about the trails, but never bothered to do so for my street which was lightly salted then lightly plowed only today. This reduced it from 4 inches of hard ice to maybe 2 inches of soft ice.

Some winters we never saw a plow (narrow street requiring the pickup truck sized one)all winter and rarely saw salt.

In Erie the snow stayed packed down on all of the local roads until it melted.

On Saturday 1/5/13 I filled out the 311 form online to request plowing of the sidewalks on the Highland Park bridge and 62nd St bridge. I live in Sharpsburg and these bridges are the only way to get across the river, and neither is safe for bicyclists unless they use the sidewalks.

As of 1/10 none of the sidewalks have been plowed. Although the warm weather has melted some of it, the snow is still pretty thick and bumpy on all of those sidewalks.

Hot metal bridge is covered in a few inches... of salt. The scorched earth approach was apparently taken here.

juliajay - when I 311'd broken glass on the HPB sidewalk I got back a response saying I had to contact penndot at 1-800-FIX-ROAD.

Salty, I just called 800-fix-road and was told "we don't do sidewalks, that's something Mother Nature takes care of"

She's not doing a very good job with the sidewalks on these bridges...

Also just called 311 directly and spoke to a nice fellow who said "bridges are handled by PennDOT". I told him I just called them and was told they don't do sidewalks and he sighed in an exasperated way and said this wasn't the first time he's had to deal with this issue.

I gave him my concern about the sidewalks on the HPB and 62nd St Bridges and told him I was a cyclist and couldn't cross these bridges as they were still crusty with hard snow and ice.

I think the bridge that comes out of Millvale is not cleared either, but I couldn't remember what that one was called.

That would be 40th.

Ugh, what a nightmare. I was too lazy to actually call penndot as suggested so I didn't get the runaround. Can someone from bike-pgh help clear this up?

Well, Mother Nature came through in the end and those sidewalks on the 62nd, Highland Park and 40th Street bridges are pretty clear now! I will be vigilant when the next batch of snow comes and start making phone calls to try to keep them cleared

As of about 8pm last night, there was a large stone block in the middle of the North Shore Trail near Heinz St., approximately across from the entrance to the soup plant. It was directly between two large puddles, as though it had been placed directly in the path of those who would try to avoid them. Please remove as soon as possible.

edmonds59 wrote:Is anyone able to get thru to the 311 site right now? I have something that I really, grr, really want to report but all I’m getting is a “can’t find server”.

salty wrote:Blocking the sidewalk like that is unnecessary though – why not put the pissers 100ft down the road, in the entrance to station sq?

Mikhail wrote:How can one to file a complaint about bad parking if one does not live in Pittsburgh?

buffalo buffalo wrote:Does anyone have a reference number for a previous report you’ve made about the vehicles routinely parked in front of the daycare/used car lot on Fifth Ave between Birmingham Bridge and Oakland? I’d like to re-report and request renewed enforcement, but I’d also like to make the point that this is a longstanding recurring issue. I don’t know Councilman Lavelle at all, but I’m also considering sending a copy of the message to his office.

INCIDENT ADDRESS 2100-3000 Railroad St, 15222 TOPIC OF CONCERN Street Light MESSAGE Please replace the street lights on Railroad St in the Strip. This is a frequent alternate route for cyclists heading from Downtown towards Lawrenceville and the East End, but especially in combination with the chewed up pavement and deeply recessed longitudinal drain grates can be hazardous at night due to how low the light levels are.

This is to inform you that the City of Pittsburgh has completed and closed your Service Request. The 311 Service Request Identification-Number is: 319034 The CIMS Identification-Number is: 41604 Summary of action taken: The traffic signal operation along the Butler St. corridor will be changed to operate Stop and Go 24 hours daily. G. Klubert Summary of Service-Request: After the traffic mess I saw last night, I don't think the stoplights at the intersection of Butler st and Main st should be set to flash at 11pm on the weekends. Heavy traffic on butler st, combined with cars turning both directions off main while there were many pedestrians trying to cross at this intersection created a huge hazard. On busy nights, It's really hard for people to safely turn left on to butler st from main. It's also very unsafe for pedestrians, since traffic often fails to slow for croswalk users. I can only imagine what this is going to be like in the summertime. Please change the lights at this intersection not be set to flash, at least not until much later in the evening (Especially on weekends), if this isn't changed I'm sure people are going to get hurt at this intersection.

pinky wrote:

And if sign clamps like this exist, why are they not being used for all of the signs?

scott wrote:I just asked for the bike lane on Friendship Ave btw Millvale and Gross to be refreshed.

J.Str. wrote:How exactly am I supposed to get across the 40th street bridge like this?

@rgrasmus @jonawebb @bus15237 @nataliarudiak @TranspoCamp familiar w/iBurgh (was co-developer) 1st mobile app for local govt -will be back!— bill peduto (@billpeduto) January 13, 2014

@nataliarudiak Bicyclists are your key for reporting potholes. We can pull over immed, take a photo & 311 it right there.— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) January 12, 2014

RustyRed wrote:Unused railroad tracks… think I could 311 request that they be paved over? I bit it on the set that run across River Ave over to Heinz on Sunday and have a nice purple and green arm to show for it. I’m kinda lucky I didn’t break or dislocate anything.

RustyRed wrote:Unused railroad tracks… think I could 311 request that they be paved over? I bit it on the set that run across River Ave over to Heinz on Sunday and have a nice purple and green arm to show for it. I’m kinda lucky I didn’t break or dislocate anything.

J Z wrote:Request submitted for EFT plowing/sweeping. Not holding my breath due to the anticipated weather coming in and the current state of the roads.

J Z wrote:@mikhail Going to drop them a note to say thanks, that was awesome and unexpected. Now that section of the connector from EFT to Bates, on the other hand…

There is no official connector from EFT to Bates so noone is going to clean it up.

byogman wrote:Whose head do I have to bash in repeatedly to make this point officially?

J Z wrote:@Mikhail maybe there isn’t an “official” connector, but there is sidewalk and someone is responsible for keeping it clear per city regs, even if it is the city. That said, there may be an incentive for them to not enforce their own regs on themselves.

J Z wrote:@Mikhail maybe there isn’t an “official” connector, but there is sidewalk and someone is responsible for keeping it clear per city regs, even if it is the city. That said, there may be an incentive for them to not enforce their own regs on themselves.

Mikhail wrote:

J Z wrote:@Mikhail maybe there isn’t an “official” connector, but there is sidewalk and someone is responsible for keeping it clear per city regs, even if it is the city. That said, there may be an incentive for them to not enforce their own regs on themselves.

If you mean Bates-side walk-one of these two entrances to EFT then you are correct — someone should clean them up as well as sidewalk. I meant the one discussed here — http://localhost/mb/topic/eliza-furnace-trail-deterioration-steps/#post-275934

J Z wrote:That’s the one I mean, that wood ramp that I bit it on earlier this season. The runup to that “feature” from Bates is garbage right now.

Pierce wrote:Sent email to FoTRF to see if they’ve done any research into having the Sandcastle section of the trail cleared. It’s in West Homestead, could that borough clear it?

Mikhail wrote:

J Z wrote:That’s the one I mean, that wood ramp that I bit it on earlier this season. The runup to that “feature” from Bates is garbage right now.

I think I can clean them up next time — it’s not that far away from my work and I have a shovel in my trunk.

Mikhail wrote:I can clean them up next time

Mikhail wrote:

Mikhail wrote:I can clean them up next time

Done.

Pierce wrote:I’m thinking maybe this would do the trick for the segment I’m most concerned about, which is the Sandcastle link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CZ2Y0M/ref=w

@pgh311 Please fix broken/missing bricks in middle of L turn off Smithfield onto Liberty. I almost wiped out! pic.twitter.com/OSWvWeIdu8— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) July 24, 2014

@bus15237 Request ID# 108984 submitted to DPW to evaluate necessary procedures to realign bricks safely @ Smithfield/Liberty— PGH311 (@Pgh311) July 24, 2014

@pgh311 @pghtrails @pgtraffic 5Ave inbound at Marion, Uptown, missing cover to square manhole. Will flip a cyclist, huge hole for car.— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) August 21, 2014

@pgh311 Pothole (broken pavement slab), 5Av/Market inbound.— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) November 13, 2014

@bus15237 Request ID# 124609 submitted to DPW to address road condition concern @ 5th Ave & Market. Thank you!— PGH311 (@Pgh311) November 13, 2014

@pgh311 Tell Pizza Parma at Penn/9th to clear its sidewalks. pic.twitter.com/KKo4980xS4— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) February 17, 2015

@bus15237 Request ID# 136512 - Warning letter mailed to property owner of 823 Penn Ave regarding sidewalk maintenance. Thank you!— PGH311 (@Pgh311) February 17, 2015

@Pgh311 Can someone please clear the sidewalk in front of the Smithfield Café before it freezes solid tonight?— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) March 5, 2015

@bus15237 Request ID# 140989 submitted to inspectors & Warning letter mailed to property owners of 639 Smithfield St. Thank you!— PGH311 (@Pgh311) March 5, 2015

@Pgh311 Pothole, 6St at Liberty Ave, southbound. pic.twitter.com/N7xqYaH1Gf— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) March 19, 2015

@bus15237 Request ID# 148841 submitted to DPW to address pothole concern @ 6th St & Liberty Ave. Thank you!— PGH311 (@Pgh311) March 19, 2015

311’ed request to evaluate at grade crossing at Panther Hollow…advised that PDW would be evaluating it…unclear if they have authority to do it.

@pgh311 Tree down blocking sidewalk, East St about 0.1 mile S of Hazlett.— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) October 12, 2015

@bus15237 Thank you for contacting 311! Request ID 27447 has been sent to Forestry to address.— PGH311 (@Pgh311) October 13, 2015

Request 30146 for reinstalling bollard at entry point of southeast corner of Penn and 9th. Even after a year-plus, drivers are still turning into eastbound Penn, completely oblivious to the road signage. At least the bollard makes them back out of this maneuver.

@Pgh311 Please pave that bit of 5Av by 6Av that was recently milled. Couple of nasty holes got uncovered.— Stuart Strickland (@bus15237) November 13, 2015

@bus15237 Thank you for contacting 311. Request number 33699 has been submitted.— PGH311 (@Pgh311) November 16, 2015

@bus15237 Request ID# 56132 submitted to DPW Crews to address pothole concern @ 6th @ & William Penn Pl. Thank you!— PGH311 (@Pgh311) March 18, 2016

it’s the major detour route from Greenfield to Oakland for people not driving cars

@bus15237 A REQUEST HAS BEEN SENT TO THE WATER DIVISION FOR INVESTIGATION
NO-676430

— PGH311 (@Pgh311) December 30, 2016

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is meeting with customers and residents to forge relationships and re-establish trust during this year of transition. 2018 is a year of transition for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA). From transitioning to PUC oversight and beginning to address long-standing challenges, it’s the start of a new era for PWSA. One that puts customers, and our accountability to them, first. [...] Several meetings with neighborhood community groups are scheduled through May. Later this year, PWSA will host its own community forums to have an open, engaging discussion about the future direction of the organization. All meetings are open to the public. We've already met with the Homewood Concerned Citizen Council, the Highland Park Community Council, and the Elliott Community Group. The next few meetings will take place on: March 13th Hazelwood Initiative March 21st Stanton Heights Neighborhood Association March 26th Lawrenceville 6th Ward Block Watch Please use the link below for a complete list of meetings already scheduled. More information about this outreach initiative as well as the meeting schedule is available on our website at www.pgh2o.com/communitymeetings.

They’re also trying to put some of the blame on conrail, since they maintain the tracks, even though they are orphaned tracks.

The state's highest court said federal law gives a federal agency - currently the Surface Transportation Board - the sole power to declare a rail line "abandoned"

Should I 311 the non-functional water fountains in Schenley Plaza and gravel in the East St. bike lanes?

• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031237411999768576
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031236673991008257
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031235907993706496
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031234644203773953
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031234347251060736
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031234100080857088
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031233661365104640
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031232918084046849
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031232111351607296
• https://twitter.com/lori_flynn/status/1031230830373482497